Unemployment rate at 13.7% in September 2020, economy contracts 13.2% in the third quarter, consumer prices down 0.5%, and both imports and domestic exports down 29.1% and 5.5% respectively in October 2020.

Today, the Statistical Institute of Belize published its latest statistics on the consumer price index, external trade, 3rd quarter 2020 gross domestic product, and September 2020 labor force survey.

Consumer Price Index

In October 2020, the Statistical Institute of Belize conducted the first round of price collection using its updated Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket1. This new basket was derived using detailed data on household spending obtained from the 2018/19 Household Budget Survey. It represents a more current list of goods and services that households in Belize frequently purchase and is an improved representation of consumer spending patterns. For the month of October 2020, the All-Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 100.0. This was an overall decrease of 0.5 percent when compared to the 100.5 recorded for October 2019. This does not indicate that all prices decreased during the period. Rather, it reflects the fact that notably higher prices in the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ and ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ categories were balanced out by lower prices in ‘Transport’, and ‘Clothing and Footwear’, resulting in the marginal decline of 0.5 percent3.

Click the following link to read more: Consumer Price Index, October 2020

Merchandise Trade

In October 2020, Belize imported goods valuing $131.4 million. This represented a 29.1 percent or $53.9 million decrease from the same month last year. Merchandise imports for the period January to October 2020 totaled almost $1.3 billion, representing a 20.2 percent or $328.5 million drop from the same ten-month period last year, when imports totaled $1.6 billion.

Total domestic exports for October 2020 amounted to $24.9 million, down by 5.5 percent or $1.4 million from the $26.3 million recorded for October of 2019. Merchandise exports for the period January to October 2020 totaled just over $325 million, down 9.9 percent or $35.9 million from that same period last year, when total domestic exports were valued at $360.9 million.

Click the following link to read more: External Trade, October 2020

Gross Domestic Product

The Statistical Institute of Belize’s Gross Domestic Product estimates for the third quarter, July to September of 2020, indicated that the country’s overall level of economic activity declined by 13.2 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2019. The total value of goods and services produced within the country for the period stood at $578.9 million, down $87.8 million from $666.7 million produced in the third quarter of 2019

Click the following link to read more: Gross Domestic Product, 3rd Quarter 2020

Labor Force Survey

Preliminary results from the Statistical Institute of Belize’s most recent Labour Force Survey (LFS) reveal that, for the month of September 2020, the national unemployment rate was 13.7 percent. For this round of the survey, refined definitions were implemented for classifying the employed, unemployed, and underemployed, in accordance with a resolution of the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS). The September 2020 LFS will now serve as a benchmark for future Labour Force Surveys. Having been conducted during the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this round of the LFS also measured the impact of the pandemic on the labour force.Click the following link to read more: Labour Force Survey, September 2020

Unemployment rate at 13.7% in September 2020, economy contracts 13.2% in the third quarter, consumer prices down 0.5%, and both imports and domestic exports down 29.1% and 5.5% respectively in October 2020.

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