“Cost of living was slightly lower in September,” says Statistical Institute of Belize

By BBN Staff: The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), produced by the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) says that Belizeans households paid an average of 10 cents less for goods and services for the month of September 2019, when compared to the same month last year.

“Higher prices for various food items as well as tertiary education were off set by lower prices for fuel, home rental costs and international airfares. The All-Items CPI, which summarizes all categories of good and services, stood at 105.3 in September 2019, a slight decrease from 105.4 in September 2018. The cumulative inflation rate for the first nine months in 2019, when compared to the same period in 2018, stood at 0.2 percent,” the SIB said.

During the month, the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ category saw an overall increase of 0.8 percent when compared to September 2018. The price of several meat products including beef steak, pigtail, and whole chicken was higher. The cost of several fruits and vegetables, including pineapples, sweet peppers, onions, tomatoes and cabbages, were also higher and contributed to the overall increase in this category.

The SIB said that the ‘Transport’ category saw a 2.2 percent decrease, mainly due to lower prices in the ‘Fuels and Lubricants’ sub-category, as all fuel types recorded decreases in comparison to September of last year.

“At the pump, the average price per gallon of Premium gasoline went down by 2.9 percent from $11.76 in September 2018 to $11.42 in September 2019. Regular gasoline declined by 7.9 percent from $11.10 to $10.23, while the price per gallon of Diesel fell by 5.1 percent from $10.71 to $10.17,” the SIB added.

By municipality, Orange Walk Town saw the highest monthly increase in consumer prices, with an inflation rate of 2.6 percent for the month of September 2019, while  the twin towns of San Ignacio/Santa Elena experienced the lowest inflation rate, with prices being 2 percent lower, on average, than they were in September 2018.  

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