Imports down 29% in November 2020
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Jan. 4, 2021– The following is a condensed summary of the report of the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) which was released on December 30, 2020.
For the month of November 2020, Belize imported goods valuing $128.4 million, a 29% or $52.5 million decrease from the value of imports that were purchased in that same month in 2019, when imports totaled $180.8 million.
DECREASING CATEGORIES: Expenditure on ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’ plunged by 55% or $14.9 million, from $27.1 million in November 2019 to $12.2 million in November 2020; imports into the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ dropped by 41% or more than $12 million, from $30.3 million to $17.9 million; purchases of ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ declined by $8.5 million, from $34.8 million in November 2019 to $26.3 million in November 2020; and imports of ‘Manufactured Goods’ went down by 30% or $7.3 million, falling from $24.8 million to $17.5 million.
Imports in the ‘Food and Live Animals’ category fell by 20% or $4.6 million, from $23.2 million in November 2019 to $18.6 million in November 2020; decreased imports of a number of items in the ‘Other Manufactures’ category, including wrist watches and gold jewelry, led to a 28% or $3.5 million drop, from $12.6 million to $9.1 million; imports of ‘Chemical Products’ declined by 15% or $2.4 million, from $15.9 million in November of last year to $13.6 million in November 2020, due mostly to reduced purchases of fertilizers; and the value of imports in the ‘Crude Materials’ category fell by just under $2.3 million, from $4.1 million to $1.9 million, on account of diminished imports of treated pine lumber and used clothing.
INCREASING CATEGORIES: A spike in imports of mainly beer led to a growth of $4 million, as imports within that category more than doubled from $3.2 million in November 2019 to $7.2 million in November 2020.
Domestic exports down 20.4% in November 2020
The SIB reported that “total domestic exports for November 2020 amounted to $21.5 million, down by 20.4 percent or $5.5 million when compared to exports for November 2019, which were valued at just over $27 million.”
DECREASING CATEGORIES: Reduced exports of conch, lobster, and shrimp led to earnings from marine products falling by almost two-thirds, from $8.3 million in November 2019 to $2.9 million in November 2020. Earnings from citrus products fell from $3.6 million to a little over $3 million, and sales of molasses declined from $1.8 million to $0.03 million.
INCREASING CATEGORIES: Revenues from sugar went up by $1.1 million, from $2 million in November 2019 to $3.1 million in November 2020; earnings from bananas grew from $7.3 million to almost $8 million; and earnings from animal feed surged by $1.9 million, from $0.1 million in November 2019 to more than $2 million in November 2020.
Imports down 21.1% Jan.-Nov. 2020 when compared to Jan.-Nov. 2019
Imports for the first eleven months, January to November, of 2020, amounted to $1.4 billion, representing a 21.1 percent or $381 million decrease from the same period last year, when imports totaled $1.8 billion.
DECREASING CATEGORIES: The ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’ category fell by a significant 48%, as decreased imports of fuel coupled with the lower cost of fuel on the world market led to a decline of $130.4 million, from $273.8 million in 2019 to $143.4 million 2020; imports to the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ dropped by one-third or $101.6 million, from $300.2 million to $198.6 million, due to decreased purchases of goods such as clothing, bags and footwear; the ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ category went down by 20% or almost $74 million, from $365.6 million in 2019 to $291.6 million in 2020; and imports in the ‘Manufactured Goods’ category fell by $37.5 million, from $243.3 million to $205.8 million.
The ‘Other Manufactures’ category declined by 20% or more than $26 million, from $132.8 million in 2019 to $106.2 million in 2020, as imports of gold jewelry, wrist watches and plastic bottles dwindled; imports in the ‘Crude Materials’ category fell 46% or $15.8 million, from $34.4 million to $18.6 million; reduced purchases of shrimp feed and office furniture led to a decline in the value of imports in the ‘Designated Processing Areas’ category, from $30.4 million in 2019 to $28.7 million in 2020; and the ‘Chemical Products’ category saw a marginal decline of $1.1 million, from $162.3 million in 2019 to $161.2 million in 2020, owing to diminished imports of fertilizers and PVC pipes.
INCREASING CATEGORIES: The ‘Beverages and Tobacco’ category grew by 22% or $7.7 million, from $35 million in 2019 to $42.7 million 2020, an increase due mostly to increased imports of beer, and the ‘Oils and Fats’ category, with bigger imports of cooking oils, rose by 13% or $2.3 million, from $18.2 million Jan.-Nov. 2019 to $20.5 million Jan.-Nov. 2020.
Merchandize exports down 10.7% Jan.-Nov. 2020 when compared to Jan.-Nov.2019
Merchandise exports for the period January to November 2020 totaled $346.5 million, down 10.7% or $41.4 million from the same period last year.
DECREASING CATEGORIES: Revenues from sugar dropped by more than $25 million, a 19% decline from $134.3 million in 2019 to $109.3 million in 2020; earnings from marine exports declined by $8.4 million or 19%, down from $43.6 million to $35.2 million; revenues from crude petroleum for the first eleven months of this year dropped by more than $8 million, from $12.9 million in 2019 to $4.9 million in 2020; earnings from citrus products went down by 11% or $6.1 million, from $53 million in 2019 to $46.9 million in 2020; sawn wood exports were down by $1.1 million, from $3.1 million to $2 million, while earnings from red kidney beans dropped by $1.8 million, from more than $12 million in 2019 to $10.2 million in 2020.
INCREASING CATEGORIES: The value of banana exports rose by 8% or $6.2 million, from $74.3 million in 2019 to $80.5 million in 2020; and animal feed exports increased by one-fourth, from $11.1 million to $13.8 million.