Belize Economy - 2024

Economic overview

tourism- and agriculture-driven economy; strong post-pandemic rebound; innovative and ecological bond restructuring that significantly lowered public debt and expanded marine protections; central bank offering USD-denominated treasury notes; high mobility across borders

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$3.505 billion (2021 est.)
$3.042 billion (2020 est.)
$3.513 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

15.23% (2021 est.)
-13.4% (2020 est.)
4.5% (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$8,800 (2021 est.)
$7,700 (2020 est.)
$9,000 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$1.854 billion (2017 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3.24% (2021 est.)
0.12% (2020 est.)
0.19% (2019 est.)

Credit ratings

Moody's rating: Caa3 (2020)

Standard & Poors rating: CCC+ (2020)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 10.3% (2017 est.)

industry: 21.6% (2017 est.)

services: 68% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 75.1% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 15.2% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 22.5% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 1.2% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 49.1% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -63.2% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

sugar care, oranges, bananas, maize, poultry, rice, sorghum, papayas, grapefruit, soybeans

Industries

garment production, food processing, tourism, construction, oil

Industrial production growth rate

15.08% (2021 est.)

Labor force

176,900 (2021 est.)

note: shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel

Unemployment rate

8.22% (2021 est.)
8.46% (2020 est.)
6.71% (2019 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 19.3% (2021 est.)

male: 12.2%

female: 31.9%

Population below poverty line

41% (2013 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: NA

highest 10%: NA

Remittances

5.43% of GDP (2021 est.)
5.8% of GDP (2020 est.)
4.01% of GDP (2019 est.)

Budget

revenues: $583 million (2019 est.)

expenditures: $656 million (2019 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

99% of GDP (2017 est.)
95.9% of GDP (2016 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

21.16% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

Current account balance

-$162.434 million (2021 est.)
-$127.92 million (2020 est.)
-$184.646 million (2019 est.)

Exports

$1.044 billion (2021 est.)
$714.624 million (2020 est.)
$1.102 billion (2019 est.)

note: Data are in current year dollars and do not include illicit exports or re-exports.

Exports - partners

United States 16%, United Kingdom 16%, Guatemala 7%, Italy 6%, Spain 6% (2021)

Exports - commodities

raw sugar, bananas, fishing ships, lobsters and crawfish, beer (2021)

Imports

$1.252 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$901.819 million (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$1.203 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports - partners

United States 29%, China 14%, Seychelles 13%, Guatemala 10%, Mexico 9% (2021)

Imports - commodities

recreational boats, refined petroleum, cigarettes, ships, natural gas (2021)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$420,102,800 (31 December 2021 est.)
$348,090,100 (31 December 2020 est.)
$277,578,800 (31 December 2019 est.)

Debt - external

$1.315 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$1.338 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Exchange rates

Belizean dollars (BZD) per US dollar -

Exchange rates:
2 (2021 est.)
2 (2020 est.)
2 (2019 est.)
2 (2018 est.)
2 (2017 est.)