And, changing gears now, according to the Statistical Institute of Belize, the unemployment rate in April 2025 was down by.2 points, going from 2.1% to 1.9.
As statistician Aronelle Wade explained, this refers to those who are actively looking for work. However, she also explained that almost half the working age population were outside of the workforce.
Aronelle Wade, Statistician II
"The unemployed are defined as persons of working age who were without work but available to start work within the next two weeks and actively looking for work within the last 4 weeks. Thus, in April 2026, the unemployment rate stood at 1.9%."
"In April 2026 almost 3/5s of the employed population were males and over half of employed persons were age 25-44 years old. 36.5% had completed primary school education, 27.5% had completed secondary level education while 21.7% had completed tertiary level education. Of the employed population 72% were employees while 26.1% were self employed."
"In April 2026, 46.0% of the working age population were outside the labor force with women account for over 60%. 30.6% were youths, and 34.7% were age 55 and older. Over half had never worked, more than 3/4 relied on family support for finances and almost half stopped working due to retirement or being too old."
