Today, the Statistical Institute of Belize published its latest statistics on the consumer price index, external trade, 1st quarter 2018 gross domestic product, and the preliminary results for the April round of the 2018 Labour Force Survey.
Consumer Price Index
Figures released by the Institute show that the All-Items Consumer Price Index for May 2018 stood at 104.7, an increase from 104.4 in May 2017. On average, during this month in 2018, the prices of goods and services regularly purchased by Belizean households were 0.3 percent higher than they were in the same month of 2017. For the first five months of 2018, a year-to-date inflation rate of negative 0.1 percent was recorded.
Click the following link to read more: Consumer Price Index, May 2018
Merchandise Trade
In May 2018, Belize imported goods valuing $166.3 million. This represented a 3.1 percent or $4.9 million increase from the same month last year. Merchandise imports for the first five months of 2018 totaled $752.3 million, representing a 1.7 percent or $12.7 million increase from the same period last year.
The total value of Belize’s domestic exports for the month of May 2018 was $58 million, down 20.2 percent or $14.6 million from the $72.6 million recorded for May 2017. Merchandise exports for the period January to May 2018 totaled $190.6 million, down 19.8 percent or almost $47 million from the same period last year.
Click the following link to read more: External Trade, May 2018
Gross Domestic Product
For the first three months of 2018, Belize’s economy saw a 1.8 percent increase in the overall level of production when compared to the same period in 2017. The total value of goods and services produced in Belize was $756.9 million, up $13.1 million from $743.8 million produced in the first quarter of 2017.
Click the following link to read more: Gross Domestic Product, 1st Quarter 2018
Labour Force
The Statistical Institute of Belize’s preliminary results from its April Labour Force Survey indicated that the national unemployment rate for that month was 9.4 percent, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 9.0 percent in April 2017. The SIB attributes this marginal growth in the overall unemployment rate to a sharp rise in the level of unemployment in the Cayo and Toledo districts, where data indicates that persons were joining the labour force at a faster pace than that at which jobs were being created.
Click the following link to read more: Labour Force Survey, April 2018
