First-quarter inflation stands at 1.3 percent, West most affected

By Aaron Humes: The year-to-date or cumulative inflation rate for the first three months of 2021, when compared to the first three months in 2020, stood at 1.3 percent according to the Statistical Institute of Belize. 

Across all the categories, the most significant change was seen in the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic

Beverages’ category, which had a cumulative inflation rate of 5.2 percent. The ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ category went up by 1.1 percent, as a result of higher LPG prices, while ‘Personal Care, Social Protection and Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ recorded a 1.9 cumulative inflation rate for the first three months of the year, due to higher prices for personal hygiene products. On the other hand, the ‘Restaurant and Accommodation Services’ category went down by 11.4 percent compared to the first three months of last year, due to lower hotel accommodation rates.

With an inflation rate of 1.9 percent, the towns of San Ignacio/Santa Elena experienced the highest increases in consumer prices for March 2021 when compared to March 2020. Consumers in these towns saw above average increases in prices for various food items, LPG and personal hygiene products. On the other hand, Corozal Town recorded the lowest inflation rate of 0.8 percent, as consumers experienced lower than average increases in prices for food items, pet food, and restaurant services.

The month-over-month inflation rate for the month of March 2021, when compared to February 2021, stood at a marginal 0.02 percent. Prices across most food categories, which had been trending sharply upwards for several consecutive months, saw reductions over the one-month period between February and March 2021. On the other hand, prices for all types of motor vehicle fuels were up, with diesel rising by almost 10 percent and premium and regular fuels going up by more than 4 percent in the span of just one month.

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