Consumer Confidence Falls; Cost of Living Up in February

The Statistical Institute of Belize reported that the Consumer Confidence Index for February 2025 showed a drop in confidence among Belizean households. This indicates that people were generally feeling pessimistic about their economic future. The index fell from a little over fifty in January to forty-six in February, marking an eight point nine percent decrease in consumer confidence. The Consumer Confidence Index measures how optimistic or pessimistic consumers are about their financial situation over the next year. Interestingly, the S.I.B. also noted that the cost of living increased in February compared to the same time last year. News Five’s Marion Ali delves into the latest data shared by the SIB today.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

In the first two months of 2025, the cost of living went up by 1.9%. In February alone, it increased by 1.6% compared to February 2024. The Consumer Price Index from the Statistical Institute of Belize highlighted that the biggest contributors to this rise were the costs of food and non-alcoholic drinks, housing, utilities, and fuel. Statistician Jefte Ochaeta provided the details.

 

Jefte Ochaeta, Statistician, S.I.B.

“Under the food and non-alcoholic beverages, we saw that there was an increase of 2.4% and this was mainly driven by an increase of 12.8% in the prices of fruits and nuts as we observed them several fruits increasing significantly, like watermelon, limes, and pineapple cereal products also experienced an increase of 3% as we saw increase in the price of white bread, biscuits, and pasta products. The beverages components of the food and alcoholic beverages also increased with increases throughout the categories, like fruits and vegetable juices by 15.4%, where we experience increases in all the drinks like natural orange juice increasing by 25.3%, fruit drinks, powdered drinks, and also in purified water and soft drinks. In the housing and electricity and water and gas and other fuels. We also saw an increase of 2.4%, and this was mainly attributed to an increase in rent of 2.5% for the period, an increase in 6% of LPG in natural gas butane.”

 

Interestingly, the Consumer Confidence Index showed a drop in confidence among Belizean households in February. This means people were generally feeling pessimistic about their economic future. The index fell from 50.5 in January to 46 in February. The Consumer Confidence Index measures how optimistic or pessimistic consumers are about their finances over the next year. Statistician Jacqueline Sabal explained that the S.I.B. surveyed 1,200 households to determine this, with the index ranging from 0 (completely pessimistic) to 100 (completely optimistic).

 

Jacqueline Sabal, Statistician, S.I.B.

“The idea behind the CCI is that economic uncertainly or a decline in consumer confidence creates pessimism and reduces desires to spend, while economic optimism encourages consumer confidence and a willingness to make significant purchases and other debt commitments. For the month of February 2025, the consumer confidence index stood at forty-six. This represents a decrease of eight-point nine percent from January 2025, when the index stood at fifty-point five.”

 

Although the SIB can’t pinpoint why people feel the way they do about spending, Director General Diana Castillo noted that they’ve observed a general improvement in how consumers feel.

 

Diana Castillo, Director General, S.I.B.

“T here has been a general improvement in consumer sentiment. People have been getting less and less pessimistic. And in January, we actually crossed the threshold into optimistic. In February now we saw a slight reversion back to below 50 to pessimistic territory. The general trend has been upwards, but I can’t really say why people feel the way they feel. This just captures how they feel.”

 

At SIB’s first presentation of 2025, they shared data on the GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2024, revealing that the economy grew by 7.1%. Statistician Christopher Hulse presented these findings.

 

Christopher Hulse, Statistician, S.I.B

“Goods and services produced in the first quarter of 20024 totaled one point four, three billion dollars. This is an increase of ninety-four point four, nine million dollars 0r seven point one percent when we compare it to the fourth quarter of 2023 which, was at one point three, three billion dollars. Looking at the one point four, three billion, we can see how that is spread across the three sectors with taxes. Primary contributed a hundred and fifty-seven point eight million out of that one point four, three billion. Then secondary – a hundred and seventy point three million. Tertiary – nine hundred and seven point two million, and then taxes – a hundred and ninety point two million.”

 

Ronald Orellana shared that Belize did better in the first two months of this year in terms of Merchandise Trade Statistics, which track our imports and exports over the past two months.

 

Ronald Orellana, Statistician, S.I.B.

“Starting with the merchandise imports, we have a line graph showing how imports have performed over the past ten years for the first two months of January and February, despite a current decrease in imports when compared to 2024, imports have been on an upward trend since 2021. The total merchandise imports for the first two months of the year amounted to four hundred and sixty-one million dollars, down seven-point eight percent or thirty-eight point eight million dollars when compared to imports for the first two months in 2024. In general, exports have been on a downward trend with notable fluctuations seen across most of these years. The total domestic exports for the first tow months of 2025 amounted to forty point four million, representing a growth of seven point seven percent or three million when compared to the same period in 2024.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.