BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Apr. 25, 2019– The Statistical Institute of Belize released their Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for the month of March, 2019, and in that report were listed notable differences in the prices of some consumer goods in comparison to March of 2018. The CPI categorizes consumer products into four groups, three of which have undergone inflation in the past year.

The average price of goods in the “Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages” category has increased by 0.3%; items in the “Transport” category have undergone a price increase of 0.4%, and the average price of “All Other Goods and Services” – such as motor vehicle insurance, health insurance, secondary school fees, and entrance fees to sporting events, etc. has underwent the largest increase at 0.7%.

The sole category of consumer goods which underwent a price decrease was that of “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels”, with prices declining by 0.4%. The decrease was attributed to a one percent reduction of home rental cost in Belize City, Dangriga Town and Belmopan since March of last year. However, an 11.9% increase was seen in electricity tariffs and a 9.4% increase in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).  The prices of various food items such as beef, pork chops, natural milk, brown sugar and others have risen since March of 2018 and even the cost of international airfare has seen an increase.

Overall, the CPI has indicated that the average Belizean household has experienced a 0.3% price increase of regularly purchased goods and services as of March 2019 in comparison to March 2018.