Regional Report Finds Belize Has Big Room to Grow Trade With Its Neighbours

Belize is trading far less with its Latin American and Caribbean neighbours than its economy would predict. This is according to the Latin American Economic Outlook 2026. It is a joint report by the OECD, the development bank CAF, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the European Union.

The report estimates the gap between Belize’s actual and expected trade with the region at about 4.6 per cent of GDP, based on an average from 2002 to 2024. It says the gap is among the largest in the region relative to the size of the economy. Only Uruguay and Ecuador have bigger gaps.

The report puts the gap for economies like Belize at between 4 and 13 per cent of GDP. It says these economies “show the largest opportunities” to trade more within the region. The report stresses this is a potential and not an automatic outcome. The estimates come from a model based on a country’s economic size, income, location and trade structure.

On exports, the report says Belize “stands out for its relatively stronger presence in knowledge-intensive services.” Most Caribbean and Latin American economies earn their service income from travel and transport. Low-technology activities make up 57 per cent of service exports across the region on average, and over 84 per cent in Bolivia and 87 per cent in Jamaica.

Belize does less well on how closely its exports match what its neighbours buy. The report’s analysis places it near the bottom of the region on that measure, alongside Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana. Economies with more diversified manufacturing tend to score higher, with Mexico the highest.

The report also refers to Belize’s 2021 debt-for-nature swap, which restructured about US$550 million, around 30 per cent of GDP. The deal unlocked roughly US$180 million for marine conservation, protecting the Belize Barrier Reef.

It says ECLAC has begun policy discussions with Caribbean governments on “data embassies”, an arrangement that stores critical government data in a trusted foreign jurisdiction under the owner country’s own laws. This is meant to protect against hurricanes and other disasters that can destroy local systems. The report says a pilot discussion took place in Belize City in 2026.

For the Caribbean as a whole, the report says the share of services exports going to the United States fell from 48 per cent to 37 per cent, while the European Union’s share rose from 13 per cent to 22 per cent.