Petroleum leads Belize’s major domestic exports with BZ$248.7 million worth of exports reported for January to October, the first 10 months of 2011, according to information just released by the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB).
The value of petroleum exports is up roughly 35% from the same period in 2010, during which BZ$184.5 million of petroleum exports was reported.
Citrus concentrate exports were also up 36% for the reporting period, from BZ$66.1 million for the first 10 months in 2010 compared with BZ$90.1 million for January to October 2011.
On the other hand, banana exports saw a decline in value from $BZ$70.8 to BZ$55.8 million—an estimated 20% fall.
Marine products fell slightly about 7%, from BZ$43 million to BZ$40 million.
According to a statement from the SIB, “Domestic export earnings for the ten-month period increased by 7.8%”—an increase it said was driven largely by higher prices for crude oil.
“The share of domestic exports to the United States increased from 43.1% to 57.7%, while the share to the United Kingdom declined from 27.9% to 19.9%,” SIB added.
Belize’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 2.2% for the third quarter of 2011, putting growth for the first nine months of 2011 at 2.7%—an improvement from the 1.8% reported for the same period in 2010, the SIB said.
Wholesale and retail trade led the expansion of the country’s GDP, reporting an expansion of 7.7%, followed by a 2.1% growth in the hotels and restaurants sector. Fishing reported an increase of 14.5% and construction an increase of 7.4%.
Reporting declines between 3% and 5% were three sectors: government; electricity and water; and agriculture, hunting and forestry.