{"id":83862,"date":"2026-02-26T15:18:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/?p=83862"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:18:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:18:57","slug":"imports-surge-past-quarter-billion-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/imports-surge-past-quarter-billion-dollars\/","title":{"rendered":"Imports Surge Past Quarter\u2011Billion Dollars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belize kicked off the new year with a lively trade performance. Imports reached $271 million, while exports climbed to $19.5 million, both higher than the same month last year, signalling a busy start for businesses and farmers across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Statistical Institute of Belize<\/a> reported imports growing by 11.7%, an increase of about $28.5 million compared to January 2025. Machinery was the biggest driver, jumping from $61.6 million to $76.1 million as new production equipment arrived. Everyday items also added to the rise, including jerseys, tennis shoes, fertilisers, cigarettes, and even pasture grass seeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

While most categories grew, construction materials like steel products dipped slightly, showing a slowdown in that sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the export side, Belizean bananas stole the show, climbing from $6.1 million to $7.8 million. Farmers shipped more fruit abroad, earning higher revenues and giving the industry a strong start to 2026. Pepper sauces also made waves, more than doubling their sales compared to last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marine products, especially lobster, slipped a little. Sugar exports also fell, showing how global demand can shift from month to month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Europe was a major buyer, with earnings from that region more than doubling from $2.1 million to $4.9 million. The United States also increased purchases, rising from $3.5 million to $4.4 million, thanks to conch and pepper sauces. Sales to CARICOM countries fell from $4.3 million to $3.8 million, while the United Kingdom dropped from $4 million to $3.6 million due to fewer banana exports.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sponsored<\/a>

Sponsored by RF&G Insurance<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Belize kicked off the new year with a lively trade performance. Imports reached $271 million, while exports climbed to $19.5 million, both higher than the same month last year, signalling a busy start for businesses and farmers across the country. The Statistical Institute of Belize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":83863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[484,449,444,475],"tags":[11049,11055],"class_list":["post-83862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-economy","category-latest-news","category-news","tag-2026-02-26","tag-imports-surge-past-quarter-billion-dollars"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83862"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83867,"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83862\/revisions\/83867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greaterbelize.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}