IMF Projects Belize’s Economic Growth to Slow to 1.9% in 2026

Belize’s economy is expected to grow by one point nine percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund’s October Regional Economic Outlook. This projection signals a slow-down when compared to the two-point six percent recorded in 2025, with growth projected to reach two percent in both 2027 and 2028.  The forecast puts Belize above the one-point four percent average for Caribbean economies that depend heavily on tourism. Belize is also expected to grow faster this year than Barbados, Saint Lucia and Jamaica, but behind countries including The Bahamas, Dominica and Grenada.  The comparison with neighbouring Central American countries is less favourable. Guatemala’s economy is projected to grow by four percent this year, while Honduras and Costa Rica are each forecast to expand by three-point three percent.  For Belize, the figures point to continued economic growth, though at a more modest pace. They measure changes in the country’s overall production of goods and services, rather than how much individual households are earning.  Across the tourism-dependent Caribbean, the IMF says strong visitor demand is being held back by constraints on the economies’ ability to expand. Its broader advice to the region is to address high public debt and remove obstacles to stronger productivity.