Last night, we showed you some of the latest findings from the Statistical Institute of Belize on the unemployment rate and the country's economic performance.
Another telling indicator of the state of the economy is external trade.
According to the Institute, imports for the last 10 months are up by almost 30% when compared to the same period last year - leading to a record trade imbalance. Here is a more detailed analysis from Statistician Tiffany Vasquez:
Tiffany Vasquez - Statistician II, SIB
"For the period January to October of 2021, Belize's imports stood at 1.7 billion dollars. This was a significant growth of almost 30%, or 386.5 million dollars, as imports increased across all commodity categories, when compared to that same period last year. Such a wide sweep in increased imports is reflective of not only a comparison made to the severely reduced imports of 2020, which were notably impacted by the challenges of the pandemic, but higher world market prices for various commodities and greater shipping costs were largely responsible for this increase. The categories of manufactured goods and other manufactures together went up considerably by 76%, growing by 114.6 million dollars to over 400 million with increased imports of corrugated steel rods, cement, surveying equipment, and other goods. The mineral fuels and lubricants category grew substantially by 57%, rising by 75 million dollars to over 206 million, an increase due for the most part, to surging prices for fuel on the world market, as well as larger imports of both cooking and aviation fuels. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, such as food and beverage processing machinery, front-end loaders, and vehicles, rose by 23%, or almost 61 million dollars, to 326 million. Imports into the Commercial Free Zone rebounded to near pre-COVID levels, up by 30% or 53.7 million dollars to 234.4 million, with bigger purchases of footwear, handbags, and clothing."
And according to Vasquez, the country's exports are showing equally strong performance, especially in a few key industries. Here's her presentation on a few of the standout commodities that made a strong come-back this year:
Tiffany Vasquez
"For the period January to October of 2021, Belize's domestic exports totaled 367.4 million dollars. This was a respectable 13.2% increase, or a growth of 42.8 million dollars over exports for that same period last year. Major exports: sugar, marine, and bananas all performed well over the 10-month period. Sugar, which is our largest export earner accounting for more than a third of all export earnings, saw a notable 20% increase in revenues, up 21 million dollars to 127.2 million, due to increased production of this commodity. Earnings from marine products grew markedly by 27%, or 8.8 million dollars to 41 million, owing to better prices for lobster tails and improved sales of conch. Bananas saw a pronounced increase during the period, as investments in additional acreage led a 5.1% growth in earnings, rising by 3.7 millions to 75.9 million. The most impressive percentage increase for the period, however, came not from major exports, but from other commodities, specifically corn products. Export of animal feed, largely corn-based, doubled, growing significantly by 11.5 million dollars, to 23.3 million, owing to an exceptionally large crop and favorable prices for this highly sought-after commodity. Molasses also emerged with a striking increase, with earnings from this product going up by almost 50%, or 4.9 million dollars to 15.7 million."
For the month of October 2021 alone, imports are up by 39.2% and exports are also up by 29.2 percent when compared to the same period last year.
