Belize’s Economy Shows Stability Despite Price Hikes and Export Declines

As for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the SIB says Belize’s national inflation rate for August 2025 rose 0.8 percent. The biggest price increases came in housing, utilities, and food, which make up nearly half of an average household budget. Meanwhile, transport and communication costs fell, helping to moderate the overall rise in prices. However, SIB’s Director General, Diana Castillo says inflation is slowing down.

 

Diana Castillo, Director General, Statistical Institute of Belize

“What’s important to note here is that, One, inflation is slowing. So we peaked in 2022 at about 7%, and so it has been kind of slowing and leveling off to levels that we are more accustomed to, which are more around the 1% range. However, as long as inflation is above zero, prices continue to rise, even though they continue to rise much more slowly than we were seeing a couple years ago. The next thing here is that the items that have been driving inflation, food, home rentals, these are big components of the household budget. So food and home rental, those two categories, well, not just home rentals, but food, and the category within which home rental falls, those make up almost 50% of the average Belizean household’s budget. So any inflation within these categories naturally impacts households rather significantly.”