Consumer Price Index
The most recent data from the Statistical Institute of Belize’s monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) survey indicated that, for March 2023, the All-items CPI summarizes price levels for all consumer goods and services categories, stood at 114.4. This was an increase from 107.8 in March 2022 and indicated that the country experienced an overall national inflation rate of 6.1 percent on the cost of goods and services regularly purchased by Belizean households. As food prices continued to rise at an accelerating rate, the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ category accounted for almost three-quarters of the monthly national inflation rate. The year-to-date inflation rate for the first three months of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, was 6.4 percent.
Click the following link to read more: Consumer Price Index, March 2023
Merchandise Trade
During March 2023, Belize’s imported goods were valued at $237.8 million, up by 6.4 percent or $14.3 million from the $223.5 million imported in March of 2022. This increase was primarily due to a substantial rise in the ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ category, sufficient to offset a considerable drop in the ‘Chemical Products’ category. Merchandise imports from January to March 2023 totaled $650.2 million, representing a 4.3 percent or $26.8 million increase from last year when imports totaled $623.5 million.
Total domestic exports for March 2023 amounted to $30.9 million, a decrease of 36.9 percent or $18.1 million compared to March 2022, valued at $49 million. Merchandise exports from January to March 2023 totaled $78 million, down 20.9 percent or $20.6 million from last year when total domestic exports were valued at $98.6 million.
Click the following link to read more: External Trade, March 2023
