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Careful Land Use Strengthens the Economy

Quick Facts: The Economy of Belize

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $3.083 billion GDP per capita: $8,800 Natural resources: farmland, timber, seafood, hydropower. Industry (23 percent of GDP*): garment pro- duction, food processing, tourism, con- struction, oil. Agriculture (13 percent of GDP): bananas, cacao, citrus, sugar; fish, cultured shrimp; lumber. Services (64 percent of GDP): tourism, other.

Annual Exports: $633 million—sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood, crude oil Annual Imports: $864 million—machinery and transport equipment, manufac- tured goods; fuels, chemicals, pharma- ceuticals; food, beverages, tobacco. Unemployment rate: 15.5 percent. Economic growth rate: 2.5 percent Currency exchange rate (2015): 1.95 Belizean dollars = U.S. $1 (fixed rate)

* GDP or gross domestic product—the total value of goods and services produced in a year. Sources: CIA World Factbook 2014; Bloomberg.com. All figures 2014 estimates, unless otherwise noted.

Latin American Grupo Taca Airlines from gateways in Dallas, Houston, Miami, and San Salvador. Industry, Investment, and Trade A number of manufactured or produced goods come from Belize: metal doors and windows, furniture, concrete blocks, bricks, clothing, boats, beer, cigarettes, flour, animal feed, wire and paper products, agricultural fertilizer, matches, plywood and other wood products, meat packing, food processing, and rolled steel bars for the construction industry. Even so, tourism attracts most foreign investors, who build hotels and resorts, although investors from the United States have also become