If you’ve been feeling a bit uneasy about money lately, you’re not alone. New numbers from the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) show that consumer confidence, basically, how good or bad people feel about the economy and their own pockets, dipped slightly in June. But there’s a silver lining buried in the data: more Belizeans are starting to feel hopeful about what’s coming next.
The Consumer Confidence Index sits at 41.1 out of 100. Anything under 50 means people are more pessimistic than optimistic, so we’re still solidly in “things are tough” territory. That said, the drop from May’s 41.3 was small, just 0.4 percent, and much slower than the sharper falls we saw earlier this year.
So what’s got people down? Two things mainly. Belizeans are less excited about buying big-ticket items, think fridges, furniture, cars, and people are feeling a bit more negative about their current financial situation compared to a year ago.
But here’s the interesting part: when asked how they feel about the next twelve months, people actually got more optimistic. That “future outlook” score jumped from a gloomy 48.3 to a hopeful 51.4. In plain terms, Belizeans are saying, “Right now is rough, but I think it’ll get better.”
Where you live matters a lot here. Orange Walk had it roughest in June, confidence there dropped nearly 9 percent, with residents especially nervous about making big purchases and worried about how things are right now. Even so, Orange Walkeños are hopeful about the future too.
Meanwhile, Cayo bounced back the most, with confidence climbing over 6 percent. People there feel noticeably better about what’s ahead.
City dwellers were a bit more down than folks in rural areas this month, mostly because urban residents are holding off on big purchases. Rural Belizeans, on the other hand, actually got slightly more confident overall, even though they’re a little more worried about their day-to-day finances right now.
This is probably the number that should get the most attention: Belizeans between 18 and 24 saw their confidence crash by 15 percent in just one month, the sharpest drop of any age group, and the only group that got more pessimistic on every single measure. Young people are worried about their finances right now and increasingly unsure about the future too.
On the flip side, Belizeans aged 45 to 54 are feeling the best about what’s coming, with their optimism about the future jumping 10 percent.
By ethnicity, Maya households reported the most optimism overall and were the only group to cross into positive territory (above 50). Garifuna households saw the steepest decline, driven mostly by growing hesitation around big purchases and a dimmer view of the future.
