Inflation Soars: Belizeans Grapple with 3.8% Price Increase on Goods

The cost of goods continues to balloon as inflation shot up by 3.8 percent for the first eight months of this year. According to the Statistical Institute of Belize, there has been a sharp increase in goods and services across all major categories, particularly food and nonalcoholic beverages. The SIB’s latest consumer price index (CPI), the mean change in the prices of goods and services, shows that several items increased by twenty percent this year compared to 2023. Melvin Hulse, Statistician II, explained that since 2020, prices have gradually increased. 

Melvin Perez, Statistician II, SIB: “So now looking at the major categories affecting the cumulative inflation rate of 3.8%. First we had the food and non-alcoholic beverages category increasing by 6.1%. Now I must mention that this category contributed the most to the overall increase. It was followed by restaurant and accommodation services which went up by 9.4%. Then we had the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel going up by 2.5%. Personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services increasing by 4.8%, while furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance prices increasing by 4.3%. So now that we have identified the major categories affecting the cumulative inflation rate we will break down the categories that contributed the most to the overall 3.8%. Alright, so first let’s look at the food and non-alcoholic beverages with prices increasing by 6.1%. And this was mainly due to increases in vegetables, dairy products, meats, cereal products, fruits, sugar, fish and other food items. Now looking at the average price of selected food items, we can observe that several of the items went up by almost 20% specifically grapefruit, grapes, cabbage, okras, black beans, red kidney beans, and sugar. Secondly, let’s look at the restaurant and accommodation services with prices increasing by 9.4%. This was mainly due to an increase in the food and beverages services, which went up by 9.1%, followed by accommodation services which reported an increase of 13.2%. Alright, so thirdly looking at the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel, prices went up by 2.5% and this was mainly due to a 2.4% increase in home rental costs, as higher prices were recorded in Belmopan, Corozal, Benque Viejo, Independence, San Ignacio and Santa Elena, Orange Walk, and Belize City.”

And when it comes to inflation in the various municipalities, Belmopan has seen the sharpest increase this year. Hulse detailed the rise of goods across cities and towns and how Belize compares to other countries in the region. 

Melvin Perez, Statistician II, SIB: “It can clearly be seen that the city of Belmopan experienced the highest increase in consumer prices with a cumulative inflation rate of 8.9%. Consumers in the city saw an above average increase in almost all goods and services, specifically for food items, home rental costs, restaurant services, personal hygiene products, and men’s and women’s hairdressing. On the other hand, San Pedro Town, Dangriga Town, and Punta Gorda Town experienced the lowest cumulative inflation rate with a 2% as consumer in these towns saw lower than average increase in prices for food items, restaurant services, laundry products, personal care products, and medicine products. Now that we have seen the cumulative inflation rate at the national level, let’s take a look at the cumulative inflation rate at the regional level. This will tell us how prices are increasing or decreasing within our close neighbors. First, let’s look at Jamaica with prices increasing by 5.8 %, followed by Nicaragua with prices increasing by 5.2 %. Then we had Honduras with prices increasing by 4.9 %. While looking at Costa Rica, prices went down by 0.6%.

The cost of personal care items has increased by 4.8 percent.