Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Belize
Belize: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income was 16.0% in 2018. ▼ Falling
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Belize, 1993–2018
Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Belize is 16.0%, measured in 2018. That is the lowest value across all 8 years on record.
Over the whole period, proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Belize peaked at 27.3% in 1995 and was at its lowest, 16.0%, in 2018.
That places Belize 30th out of 123 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the top quarter.
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Belize, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 19.9% | — |
| 1994 | 18.1% | -9.0% |
| 1995 | 27.3% | +50.8% |
| 1996 | 18.3% | -33.0% |
| 1997 | 20.9% | +14.2% |
| 1998 | 20.7% | -1.0% |
| 1999 | 20.5% | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 16.0% | -22.0% |
Belize compared with similar countries
- Belize's 16.0% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 14.8%, 1.1× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Belize's 16.0% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 18.0%, 89% of the median. (20 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 20.8% | 18.1% | 27.3% | 7 |
| 2010s | 16.0% | 16.0% | 16.0% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Belize
- 27 Paraguay 16.3% compare
- 27 Türkiye 16.3% compare
- 29 El Salvador 16.2% compare
- 31 Montenegro 15.9% compare
- 32 Mexico 15.7% compare
- 33 Dominican Republic 15.3% compare
More poverty & inequality data for Belize
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 2.01 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,857 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -13.82 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 21.74 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 21.7% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Belize?
- Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Belize was 16.0% in 2018, according to World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ.
- What is the highest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Belize?
- The highest recorded value was 27.3% in 1995.
- What is the lowest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Belize?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.0% in 2018.
- How does Belize rank for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income?
- Belize ranks 30th out of 123 countries with data for 2018.
- Where does this Belize data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ, published as part of Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 8 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.