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# Belize Exported a Third More in September and Imported Less. Its Households' Appetite for Big Purchases Fell by a Quarter.
- URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/belize-september-2026-exports-up-a-third-durable-goods-sentiment-down-2026/
- Published: 2026-11-05T22:43:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-08T05:21:25.000Z
- Description: Belize's domestic exports rose 31.7 per cent in September 2026 and imports fell 3.8 per cent, narrowing the monthly merchandise gap by $21.1 million. In the same month the Consumer Confidence Index fell to 38.4, its lowest since April 2024, with durable goods sentiment down 26.5 per cent.
- Author: Theon Alleyne
- Tags: belize, Trade, statistics, caricom, Business, Beat: trade-market-access, MSME: indirect

**Quick summary:** Belize's domestic exports rose 31.7 per cent in September 2026 and its imports fell 3.8 per cent, narrowing the monthly merchandise gap by $21.1 million. In the same month the Statistical Institute's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 38.4, its lowest since April 2024, with durable goods sentiment down 26.5 per cent.

By LCN Business Desk

Belize sold $47.9 million of domestic exports in September 2026 against $36.4 million a year earlier and bought $9.6 million less from abroad, which is the strongest monthly trade movement the Statistical Institute of Belize has published this year. In the same month, the sentiment its households expressed about buying a car, a fridge or furniture fell 26.5 per cent.

The two readings come from [the same release, dated 28 October 2026](https://sib.org.bz/consumer-prices-up-4-7-percent-imports-down-3-8-percent-domestic-exports-up-11-5-percent-and-consumer-confidence-index-down-9-6-percent-in-september-2026/?ref=lacaribenanews.com). One describes what crossed the ports and the other what people expect to do with their money, and in September they moved in opposite directions.

## What did the trade figures do?

Both sides moved the way a small open economy would want, at once.

|                  | September 2026 | September 2025 | Change     |
| ---------------- | -------------- | -------------- | ---------- |
| Domestic exports | $47.9m         | $36.4m         | **+31.7%** |
| Total imports    | $241.8m        | $251.4m        | **\-3.8%** |

*Statistical Institute of Belize, release of 28 October 2026.*

The monthly merchandise gap closed from $215.0 million to $193.9 million, a narrowing of $21.1 million. Neither figure appears in the release; both follow from subtracting its own columns. For a country that covers a trade deficit with tourism receipts and remittances, a month in which the gap narrows by a tenth is the kind of month the external accounts are built to produce and rarely get.

## What did households do?

Stopped planning to buy things that last.

| Consumer Confidence Index, September 2026                 | Change on August |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- |
| Headline index, 38.4 from 42.4                            | **\-9.6%**       |
| Durable goods sentiment                                   | **\-26.5%**      |
| Expectations                                              | **\-26%**        |
| Present sentiment                                         | **\-19.2%**      |
| Present conditions and household finances, 35.4 from 39.8 | **\-11%**        |

*Components reported by Breaking Belize News from the institute's figures, 30 October 2026\. The institute calls the headline level pessimistic, and it is the lowest since April 2024.*

A household postponing a refrigerator is a sale an importer does not make, a credit agreement a bank does not write and a duty the treasury does not collect, and it is the component that moves first when people are uncertain rather than poorer.

::: **Durable goods sentiment fell nearly three times as fast as the headline index.** :::

## Why would the two move apart?

Because the export earnings and the household balance sheet are not the same money, and prices sit between them.

The all-items consumer price index stood at 126.2 against 120.5 a year earlier, an inflation rate of 4.7 per cent, up from 4.4 in August. Transport rose 7.4 per cent, against 3.0 for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, and 2.4 for food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Transport is the only one of the three above the headline rate, and it reaches a household directly rather than through a supply chain. Which rate a firm or a lender uses matters as much here as it does in Guyana, where [six official inflation figures are in circulation and they do not agree](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-six-official-inflation-rates-which-one-business-should-use-2026/).

## Is the export gain as large as it looks?

It is larger than the figure that travelled.

The release is titled "domestic exports up 11.5 percent". Its body states the increase as 31.7 per cent, or $11.5 million, and the arithmetic supports the body: 47.9 divided by 36.4 is 1.316\. The title carries the dollar change where the rate belongs, and a reader taking the number from the title records about a third of the measured gain.

## How does this read against the region?

As a single month in a series most of the region does not publish this quickly.

Belize is one of the thirteen countries the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean counts in its [Caribbean aggregate](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/cepal-world-bank-caribbean-growth-without-guyana-1-2-versus-2-5-2026/), and one of the few that puts out monthly trade and sentiment figures within a month of the period they cover. The regional series a trader would otherwise use, the [CARICOM Regional Statistics Programme, covers thirteen of fifteen member states and runs to 2024](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/caricom-trade-totals-thirteen-of-fifteen-bahamas-haiti-excluded-2026/).

## What is not established here?

Which commodity drove the export increase. Secondary reporting names sugar; the release page read does not identify a main contributor, so the gain is not attributed to a sector here.

The currency unit. The release writes a dollar sign without stating Belize dollars in the page read, so no conversion is attempted.

Whether the confidence fall is a level or a turn. One month at the lowest reading since April 2024 does not establish a trend, and the institute publishes the index monthly.

The category inflation rates, which secondary reports give as transport 10.7 per cent, food 4.3 and housing 4.4, against the institute's own 7.4, 2.4 and 3.0\. The institute's figures are used above.

### The entities

\- **Statistical Institute of Belize** is the national statistics office that published the September 2026 trade, price and sentiment figures on 28 October 2026\. - **Consumer Confidence Index** is the institute's household sentiment measure, at 38.4 in September 2026 and described by it as pessimistic. - **Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean** is the United Nations body whose Caribbean aggregate counts Belize among thirteen countries. - **CARICOM Regional Statistics Programme** is the regional body whose merchandise trade series covers thirteen of fifteen member states and runs to 2024.

### What the title card says

\- Headline: exports rose by almost a third while household sentiment on big purchases fell by more than a quarter. - Domestic exports, September 2026: $47.9 million, up 31.7 per cent. - Total imports, September 2026: $241.8 million, down 3.8 per cent. - Narrowing of the monthly merchandise gap: $21.1 million. - Consumer Confidence Index: 38.4, the lowest since April 2024\. - Durable goods sentiment: down 26.5 per cent. - Expectations: down 26 per cent. - Inflation rate: 4.7 per cent, with transport at 7.4\. - The rate the release's own title gives for exports: 11.5 per cent, which is its dollar change in millions.

## Frequently Asked Questions

How much did Belize's exports rise in September 2026?

31.7 per cent. Domestic exports were $47.9 million against $36.4 million in September 2025, an increase of $11.5 million.

What happened to imports?

They fell 3.8 per cent to $241.8 million from $251.4 million, a reduction of $9.6 million.

What is the Consumer Confidence Index showing?

38.4 in September 2026, down 9.6 per cent from 42.4 in August and the lowest reading since April 2024\. Durable goods sentiment fell 26.5 per cent, expectations 26 per cent and present sentiment 19.2 per cent.

What was inflation?

4.7 per cent, with the all-items index at 126.2 against 120.5 a year earlier. Transport rose 7.4 per cent, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 3.0 per cent, and food and non-alcoholic beverages 2.4 per cent.

Why do some reports say exports rose 11.5 per cent?

The release is titled that way, but 11.5 is the dollar change in millions. The body of the same release states the increase as 31.7 per cent, which the two export values support.

Does a narrowing trade gap mean the economy improved?

It means the external accounts improved for the month, with the merchandise gap narrowing by $21.1 million. The institute's household sentiment measure fell to its lowest since April 2024 in the same month, which the trade figures do not explain.