BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 5, 2020– Data compiled by the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) for October to December 2019, show that “the total value of goods and services produced within Belize were valued at $669.9 million, down $19 million from $689 million during the fourth quarter of 2018.” The SIB says this is the first fourth quarter decline since 2011, and the institute put most of the blame on the extraordinary dry weather last year.
In the primary sector, there was a decline in sales of the three major crops —sugarcane, banana, and citrus —during the period, leading to the primary sector contracting by 6.6% compared to the previous year.
No sugarcane was harvested during the 4th quarter of 2019; banana production was down from 25.1 thousand metric tons in 2018 to 22.9 thousand metric tons in 2019, and sales of citrus were down 6.4 thousand metric tons, from 8.9 thousand metric tons in 2018 to just 2.5 thousand metric tons in the same quarter of 2019.
The livestock industry grew by 8.2% in the 4th quarter of 2019 when compared with the 4th quarter of 2018, with cattle production up 20%, pig production up 34.1%, and poultry production up 1.7%. Despite a decrease in shrimp and lobster meat exports, the fishing industry, led by sales of conch, lobster tail, and whole fish, grew by 14.7%.
The secondary sector contracted 19.1% in the 4th quarter of 2019, with the ‘Manufacturing and Mining’ subsector down 5.7%. Crude petroleum exports were down from 71,200 barrels to 64,900 barrels; no sugar was produced, and there was 73% less orange concentrate and 75% less grapefruit concentrate production. Flour production rose by 11% in the quarter, and there was a 3.2% growth in beverage production.
Electricity generation decreased by 38.8%, and the ‘Construction’ subsector declined 25.7%, but water production was up 5.7%.
In the 4th quarter of 2019 the tertiary sector was up by 0.5% over the 4th quarter of 2018. The SIB report says the ‘Transport, Storage and Communication’ subsector expanded by 2.4%, and ‘Government Services’ increased by 2.5%. The ‘Hotels and Restaurants’ subsector decreased by 5.7%, despite a 1.4% increase in overnight tourist arrivals to the country and a 1.1% rise in hotel room revenue. This occurred because 15 fewer cruise ships called during the quarter, and this resulted in a fall of cruise ship arrivals, from 338,000 persons in the fourth quarter of 2018 to 282,200 persons in the fourth quarter of 2019. The ‘Wholesale and Retail’ subsector also saw a decrease of 1.5% during the quarter.