Economy of Belize
|
|
| Currency | Belize dollar (BZD) |
|---|---|
| 1 April – 31 March | |
|
Trade organisations
|
CARICOM, WTO |
| Statistics | |
| GDP | $1.770 billion (nominal 2016) $3.088 billion (PPP 2016) |
| GDP rank |
169th (nominal 2016 IMF) 167th (PPP 2016 IMF) |
|
GDP growth
|
-1.2% (Q4 2016) |
|
GDP per capita
|
$8,186 (2016) |
|
GDP by sector
|
Agriculture (13%), industry (23%), services (64%) (2012 est.) |
| 2.3% (2017) | |
|
Population below poverty line
|
41.3% (2009) |
|
Labour force
|
139,456 (2012 est.) note: shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel |
|
Labour force by occupation
|
Agriculture (10.2%), industry (18.1%), services (71.7%) (2007 est.) |
| Unemployment | 11.1% (2016) |
|
Main industries
|
Garment production, food processing, tourism, construction, oil |
| 112th (2017) | |
| External | |
| Exports | $633 million (2013 est.) |
|
Export goods
|
Sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood, crude oil |
|
Main export partners
|
 United Kingdom 30.8% United States 18.7% Nigeria 6.7% Trinidad and Tobago 4.8% Ireland 4.2% Jamaica 4.2% (2015) |
|
Import goods
|
Machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, tobacco |
|
Main import partners
|
United States 26.6% Mexico 11.7% Cuba 10.2% Guatemala 9% China 7.5% Trinidad and Tobago 5.6% (2015) |
|
Gross external debt
|
$1.048 billion (December 2013 est.) |
| Public finances | |
| $1.229 billion (2013 est.) | |
| Revenues | $410.1 million (2013 est.) |
| Expenses | $352.4 million (2013 est.) |
| CC (Domestic) CC (Foreign) CC (T&C Assessment) (Standard & Poor's) |
|
139,456 (2012 est.)
Belize has a small, essentially private enterprise economy that is based primarily on agriculture, tourism, and services. The cultivation of newly discovered crude oil in the town of Spanish Lookout has presented new prospects and problems for this developing nation. Besides petroleum, Belize's other primary exports are citrus, sugar, and bananas. Belize's trade deficit has been growing, mostly as a result of low export prices for sugar and bananas.
The new government faces important challenges to economic stability. Rapid action to improve tax collection has been promised, but a lack of progress in reining in spending could bring the exchange rate under pressure. The Belize Dollar is fixed to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 2:1.
Domestic industry is limited, constrained by relatively high-cost labour and energy and a small domestic market. Tourism attracts the most foreign direct investment although significant foreign investment is also found in the energy, telecommunications, and agricultural sectors.
Belize's economy depended on forestry until well into the 20th century. Logwood, used to make dye, was Belize's initial main export. However, the supply outstripped the demand, especially as Europeans developed man-made dyes which were less expensive. Loggers turned to mahogany, which grew in abundance in the country's forests. The wood was prized for use in cabinets, ships, and railroad carriers.
While many merchants and traders became wealthy from the mahogany industry, ups and downs in the market had a large impact on the economy. In addition, new mahogany trees weren't being planted, because mahogany trees grow slowly; the rate of natural regrowth necessitated a large, long-term investment in tree farming, which was not made. As the 19th century progressed, loggers were forced to go deeper into the forests to find the trees, increasing labour costs.
Variations of mahogany exports over long periods of time were linked to the accessible supply of the resource. Thus, improvements in hauling methods helped the cutters satisfy increasing demands for mahogany by enabling them to extract timber from areas in the interior that had been previously inaccessible to them. Immediately after the introduction of cattle in the early 19th century, tractors in the 1920s, and lorries in the 1940s, production levels rose dramatically.
...
Wikipedia