Today, the Statistical Institute of Belize published its latest statistics on the consumer price index, external trade, and gross domestic product in the 1st quarter of 2022.
Consumer Price Index
For May 2022, the All-Items Consumer Price Index (CPI), which summarizes price levels for all consumer goods and services categories, stood at 109.9, compared to a CPI of 103.1 recorded for May 2021. This indicates that the country experienced an overall national inflation rate of 6.6 percent on the cost of goods and services regularly purchased by Belizean households. This overall change was driven mainly by higher costs for fuel, transportation services, food, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), restaurant services, entrance fees to cinemas, and household cleaning products.
Click the following link to read more: Consumer Price Index, May 2022
Merchandise Trade
Belize’s total imports for May 2022 were valued at $243 million. This was a significant increase of 50.5 percent or $81.5 million from imports for May 2021, totaling $161.5 million. Merchandise imports for the first five months of the year, January to May 2022, amounted to $1.099 billion, representing a significant 44.6 percent or $339 million increase from last year when total imports were valued at $760.2 million. Total domestic exports for May 2022 amounted to $62.7 million, up by 37.4 percent or $17.1 million compared to exports for May 2021, which were valued at $45.6 million. Merchandise exports for the period January to May 2022 totaled
$192.2 million, up 11.8 percent or $20.3 million from last year, when total exports were valued at $171.9 million.
Click the following link to read more: External Trade, May 2022
Gross Domestic Product
During the first quarter months of January to March 2022, the total value of goods and services produced within Belize was estimated at $1,213.4 million, up 5.3 percent or $61.3 million from $1,152.1 million produced in the same period of 2021. This represented the highest level of production for any first quarter on record and surpassed the pre-pandemic production levels recorded for the first quarter of 2019. Moreover, revised quarterly estimates indicated that, by the end of 2021, the country’s economic output had effectively recovered to levels exceeding those recorded for pre-pandemic 2019.
Click the following link to read more: Gross Domestic Product, 1st Quarter 2022
