Belize has long been dubbed the melting pot of cultures, with the main ethnic groups being the Maya, Hispanics, Creole, Garinagu, East Indians, and Mennonites, joined by minority groups such as the Chinese, Lebanese and immigrant Indians.
The 2010 census data released by the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) report the Belize population count at 303,422. That’s 72,494 more people than the last census taken in 2000— with more than half the growth being reported among Hispanics. While these are the overall numbers, a study of how the Belize population is now distributed across ethnic groups is very revealing.
The SIB reports that the largest ethnic group in Belize is the Mestizo/Spanish/Latino grouping. Furthermore, in absolute numbers, the Mestizo population grew by more persons than any other ethnic group in Belize — with an increase of 38,000, or 34%, since the last census in 2000.
Some of the growth (10%) is attributed to migration from Mexico and Central America. Roughly 80% of the foreign-born population in Belize is from Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.
Guatemalans make up roughly 41% or about 19,000 of 46,226 people reported in the foreign-born population.
According to the SIB, Belize receives an average of 1,500 resident migrants each year, and about 38% of the foreign-born population arrived within the last decade. Most of them live in the Cayo and Belize Districts, which showed higher net population growth than any of the other districts since the last census — 39% and 34%, respectively.
The foreign-born population also enjoys a higher employment rate than the local population – 82% versus 77%.
Whereas Hispanics continue to be the largest ethnic group living in Belize, the second largest ethnic group in Belize is the Creole population, reported at 21%. This population grew by about 5,000 or 9% since the last census in 2000.
The third largest group in Belize is the Maya, who make up 10% of the people counted in the 2010 census. The Kekchi and Mopan Maya populations also reported growth during the past decade, 41% and 18% respectively; however, the Yucatec Maya numbers have declined by 32% or just over 1,000 persons since the last census report.
The Garifuna population counted in the 2010 census now numbers 13,985, versus 14,061 in the 2000 census – a small decline of less than a percent. The Garinagu make up 4.6% of the population counted in the 2010 census.
SIB says that about 19,000 persons or 6% of the population claimed to be of mixed ethnic origin.