Dissecting the Factors for Lower Imports, Higher Exports

Belize has always been known for having a trade deficit because we import far more than we export. This means our spending on imports consistently outpaced our earnings from exports. February was no different, with total imports valued at two hundred and eighteen point four million dollars and domestic exports at twenty-three point three million. Interestingly, these figures show a decrease in imports and an increase in exports compared to February 2024. In this edition of Five Point Breakdown, News Five’s Marion Ali takes a closer look at the factors behind these shifts, highlighting which import categories saw a decline and which industries performed better.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Our country’s imports and exports can be compared to how well we manage a business. Balancing how much profits we make and how much we spend can be a challenge if our personal expenses outweigh our gains. Similarly, a country’s imports and exports tell a story on how it is performing on the global scale. While we are a far cry from being self-sufficient, in February, Belize managed its imports and exports a little better than February of 2024. We imported four percent fewer goods, a difference of nine point one million dollars, bringing the total down from two hundred and twenty-seven point five million. However, Diana Castillo, the Director General of the Statistical Institute of Belize, pointed out that this doesn’t necessarily mean imports were lower this February. Instead, last year’s figures were unusually high due to significant purchases of large industrial equipment and electric buses.

 

(Factors that Could Have Contributed to Low Imports)

 

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

“What we saw last year in the earlier months of last year was the importation of some major equipment, some of the industrial equipment. So, these are for major industries. And other types of vehicles, including electric buses which is something that was newly introduced to the city last year.”

 

This chart provided by the S.I.B compares the gross imports and exports for the month of February over the past five years. For imports, the figures have steadily been increasing. Hugh O’Brien, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture pointed out that regardless of how imports perform in a month, our growing population will drive the figures up.

 

(Why Imports Will Continue to Grow)

 

Hugh O’Brien, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture

“In terms of trying to reduce our – or let me not even say the word reduce because as our population grows, we will find that our importation will continue to grow because, as a country, we buy more things from abroad and we don’t produce these things here.”

 

O’Brien went on to explain that Belize uses a lot of the items that we do not produce locally, such as vehicle parts and cell phones.

 

Hugh O’Brien

“We are not producing vehicle parts. We are not producing cars; we’re not producing electronic equipment. We’re not producing lots of the stuff that we consume in the country. When I say consume, not consume from a food perspective, but that we use – your watches, your cell phones, your clothing, your chain, your footwear.”

 

Belize’s exports for February reached twenty-three point three million dollars, marking a twelve point three percent increase compared to February 2024. Diana Castillo highlighted the factors that contributed to this spike.

 

Diana Castillo

“We saw earnings doubling from three million or so to over six million dollars in the first two months of this year. This is an increase in exports of things like lobsters, conch, lobster tails. We also saw a notable increase in exports of sugar.”

 

Reyhan Rosado, a policy analyst with the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, spends his days analyzing trade data from the S.I.B. He noted that sometimes the higher revenues we see aren’t just from exporting more goods, but also from fetching better prices on the global market.

 

(Factors that Could Have Driven Revenues Up)

 

Reyhan Rosado, Policy Analyst, B.C.C.I.

“Citrus exports from 2023 to 2024 were at point four, four million gallon in 2023, when I think the total export value of that was sixteen million. But in 2024, the total export value was point four, five million gallons and total export value was thirty million for the entire year. So that just goes to show how much commodity prices can affect the value of imports, even though production hasn’t really gone up or gone down.”

 

Rosado explained that similarly, Belize’s import bill is largely impacted by external markets.

 

Reyhan Rosado

“When the global food prices are skyrocketing, a great example, like during the Ukraine war, when prices just saw a huge increase – our food bill – the food prices that we were paying also went up significantly just across the board.”

 

Belize’s economy is rooted in agriculture, with most of our exports being farm produce. Despite this, we still bring in a lot of processed meats from abroad. But there’s good news. Thanks to recent investments in two major poultry processing plants, Belizeans can now buy locally produced poultry. Plus, we’ve achieved self-sufficiency in soybean concentrate, which is a key ingredient in animal feed. It’s a great step forward for our local agriculture.

 

(Belize Self-Sufficient in Processed Meats & Soybean Production)

 

Hugh O’Brien

“The two main poultry processing plants in Belize have both made significant investments, both of them in 2024 and they have moved towards producing now poultry – chicken bologna, chicken ham, turkey ham, and so you’ll have different types of chicken sausages that they have on the market. And for the last three years, Belize has been self-sufficient in the soybean that we no longer import soybean concentrate from abroad and that is now being processed locally into animal feed.”

 

While these investments are not expected to make a significant dent in our overall imports bill, they are expected to show reductions in these categories. For Belize to transition from a country with a trade deficit to a country with a trade surplus, we need a complete shift of our mindset. O’Brien believes it has to do with how we are educated.

 

(Shifting from Trade Deficit Country Requires a Mindset Shift)

 

Hugh O’Brien

“We are not cultured, educated, or trained even to be scientists. We are trained to be employees. We are trained to be tour guides and so forth now, and yes, we are trained to do some farming, but we do not have any institution in Belize – we do not have any polytechnic institution, not even helping in terms of how best to make concrete better, in terms of building homes. So, with that kind of background, there has to be a major mindset shift that begins with creating an institution within Belize, a model institution that starts to produce.”

 

Diana Castillo said that the S.I.B. will begin to do more in-depth analysis this year, particularly on what drives consumer confidence, which is an indicator of how people feel about their spending power. Notably, on a scale of one to a hundred, in February, consumer confidence was below fifty. Marion Ali for News Five.