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Belize: Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

Even if the economy of Belize has experienced, during the last recent years, a positive evolution in relation to its neighboring countries in the Caribbean, its growth has remained at 2%. The innovations in the energy sector (The opening of the Vaca Dam and a thermal power plant in Belcogenont) have maintained this growth and it is expected to be higher in 2012, lined up with the recovery of the American economy, its main partner. 

Even if the domestic consumption is reduced due to the size of the country, the territory of Belize (23,000 km²) profits from a variety of resources. The national economy relies mainly on services which constitute 60% of its GDP, from which 16% is provided by tourism. The primary sector constitutes the second economic pole, it represents 15% of GDP (agriculture 9%, fishing 5%, timber 1%). Finally, the manufacturing sector contributes to nearly 9% of GDP, particularly in the transformation of agricultural products.

The main factors limiting the economic development of Belize are: a high public debt (about 80%), the fragility of its banking sector and the lack of investment in infrastructures.

Socio-Demographic Indicators	2011	2012 (e)	2013 (e)
Unemployment Rate (%)	10.9	10.5	10.2

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data

 

 

Learn more about Market Analyses about Belize on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

 

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

63.8/100

Position:

Moderately free

World Rank:

67/179

Regional Rank:

11/26

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

 

Country Risk

See the Country Risk Analysis Provided By Ducroire.

 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:

Free

Political Freedom:

1/7

Civil Liberties:

2/7

Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House

Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

 

Sources of General Economic Information

Main Online Newspapers and Portals

Belize News
Belize News Network
7news, Belize news
BelizeDiscover, Tourist information

Useful Resources

Ministry of Finance
Central Bank

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Last Updates: May 2012