Consumer Confidence Rises Slightly, But Belizeans Still Holding Back on Spending

And while inflation increased, so did the Consumer Confidence Index. It inched up in August, however, Belizeans remain cautious about opening their wallets. The index, which measures how likely households are to spend or save, is based on a survey of one thousand two hundred people across Belize. For August 2025, it climbed to forty-six point eight, up nearly three percent from July, which signals a modest boost in household sentiment. The Cayo District saw the biggest rise, while Toledo slipped. Independence Village was more optimistic than urban areas. But ask SIB’s Jacqueline Sabal explains, with the index below fifty, households are more likely to save than spend.

 

Jacqueline Sabal, Manager, Economic Statistics Department, SIB

“ We are measuring for this year so far, that levels of consumer sentiment are in the pessimistic range. From what the CCI tells you, this means that persons are likely not to spend. So you can use this as an early indicator of GDP growth for the year, to see if the economy will grow or not. But again, from what we presented, we’re currently at around 47.4 for this year, still in the range of pessimism.  So you can use that to guide where economic growth is likely to fall. Which is not very high since persons are feeling pessimistic, so they’re likely not to spend a lot of money.”