Consumer Confidence Continues Decline Nationwide

As SIB reports an increase in exports and lower fuel prices, it has also reported a decline in consumer confidence.  Its report notes that consumer confidence continued its downward trend, with the national Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) slipping from 45.7 in September to 45.2 in October.  According to its metric, a reading below 50 indicates more pessimistic than optimistic sentiment among Belizean households.  The data further notes that key insights from the data show that present conditions have weakened, as the Present Situation sub-index fell sharply from 44.4 to 40.5, indicating that consumers feel worse about current economic and household conditions compared to last year.  However, expectations and the outlook for durable goods improved, with expectations rising slightly to 54.6 and sentiment towards purchasing major items such as appliances, vehicles, and furniture increasing by 4.2 percent.  In terms of district trends, Toledo recorded the steepest decline in consumer confidence with a 12.2 percent drop, while Orange Walk showed the strongest improvement, rising by 6.2 percent.  A look at the urban vs. rural divide shows that urban confidence fell by 3.6 percent, whereas rural consumer confidence edged up slightly by 0.4 percent.  When examining gender and age trends, both men and women experienced declines in sentiment, although the decrease was more pronounced among women. Younger consumers between the ages of 18 and 24 saw the largest downturn overall, with confidence falling from a previously optimistic 60.0 to 49.9.