What Is the Population of Belize? The 2022 Census and the Latest Official Estimate
Verified on 14 November 2026 on the Statistical Institute of Belize’s Key Findings Report for the 2022 census, its Abstract of Statistics 2025, its population-estimates workbook for 2022-2026 and its home page, and on the World Bank’s population series.
Belize’s 2022 Population and Housing Census counted 397,483 people, and the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) gives 418,982 as the population for July 2026. SIB’s home page labels 418,982 Mid-Year Estimate and July 2026; its estimates workbook carries the same number in a column headed Projected Mid-Year Population 2026. Census figures on this page are counts for a census date; the mid-year figures are estimates or projections for the middle of the year named.
Belize’s population by year: three published series
| Mid-year | SIB estimates workbook 2022-2026, Table 2.1 | SIB Abstract of Statistics 2025, Table 1.6 | World Bank, Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 418,982 (projected) | no 2026 row | no 2026 value |
| 2025 | 413,973 | 417,634 | 422,924 |
| 2024 | 408,937 | 410,919 | 417,072 |
| 2023 | 403,565 | 404,198 | 411,106 |
| 2022 | 408,374 | 397,483 (the census count) | 402,733 |
The three series differ in every year from 2022 to 2025, and none of the publishers explains the gap in the documents we read. In SIB’s workbook the 2023 estimate (403,565) is below the 2022 estimate (408,374); the Abstract’s 2022 row prints the census count, 397,483, in a table of mid-year estimates. The World Bank’s data feed for this series states it was last updated on 2026-11-11.
The 2022 census
SIB’s Key Findings Report says the 2010 Round enumerated 322.424 individuals within households (printed with a point), while “the corresponding population size based on the 2022 Round was 397,483.”
- When: data collection began on May 13th, 2022 and ended on January 31st, 2023. Census night was the period of twelve hours from 6 o’clock in the afternoon of the 12th May to 6 o’clock in the forenoon of 13th May 2022, in the report’s wording.
- How: with CAPI, using Survey Solutions and SIB Collect, across nine (9) regions: Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize North, Belize South, San Pedro, Cayo, Belmopan, Stann Creek and Toledo.
- Growth since 2010: 75,060 persons, or 23.3%, with an annual rate of intercensal growth the report calls just under 2% per annum.
- Sex: 195,695 males and 201,789 females (Abstract 2025, Table 1.8).
- The first count: in 1861, according to the report, “the entire population of Belize stood at 25,635”.
SIB’s own figures for the census do not all agree
| Census figure | Where SIB prints it | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 national count | Key Findings Report text and Table 2.2; Abstract Table 1.8; workbook census column | 397,483 |
| 2022 national count | Key Findings Report, census-history table (pages 42-43) | 397,484 |
| 2010 national count | Key Findings Report text and Table 2.2 | 322,424 |
| 2010 national count | Abstract 2025, Table 1.8 | 322,453 |
| 2022 urban / rural | Abstract 2025, Table 1.8 | 167,767 / 229,716 |
| 2022 urban / rural | Workbook, Census Population 2022 column | 169,056 / 228,427 |
| Orange Walk District, 2022 | Key Findings Report, Table 2.2 | 54,132 |
| Orange Walk District, 2022 | Abstract Table 1.8 and the workbook | 54,152 |
| Stann Creek District, 2022 | Key Findings Report Table 2.2 and Abstract Table 1.8 | 48,162 |
| Stann Creek District, 2022 | Workbook, Census Population 2022 column | 46,342 |
| Toledo District, 2022 | Key Findings Report Table 2.2 and Abstract Table 1.8 | 37,124 |
| Toledo District, 2022 | Workbook, Census Population 2022 column | 38,944 |
We print each figure under the document that carries it and do not choose between them.
By district: the census and the estimates
| District | Projected mid-2026, SIB workbook | Mid-2025, SIB workbook | Mid-2025, SIB Abstract 2025 (Table 1.4) | Census 2022, SIB Abstract 2025 (Table 1.8) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belize | 118,885 | 117,661 | 118,555 | 113,630 |
| Cayo | 105,999 | 104,392 | 105,566 | 99,105 |
| Orange Walk | 56,503 | 55,956 | 56,356 | 54,152 |
| Stann Creek | 50,218 | 49,315 | 51,879 | 48,162 |
| Corozal | 46,528 | 46,244 | 46,451 | 45,310 |
| Toledo | 40,849 | 40,405 | 38,826 | 37,124 |
The workbook’s projections for mid-2026 include Belize City at 65,956, Belmopan at 22,706, San Ignacio/Santa Elena at 22,161 and San Pedro Town at 16,512. For the census counts of Caye Caulker and San Pedro, see our Caye Caulker and San Pedro comparison.
Where these figures appear on this site
Our safety page divides police murder counts by SIB’s mid-2025 district estimates (Belize District 118,555, the figure the 2025 Abstract prints). The currency and ATM guide uses SIB’s July 2026 estimate of 418,982. Belize’s area is on how big Belize is.
What SIB and the World Bank don’t publish
In the report, workbook and Abstract we read on 14 November 2026, SIB gave no explanation for the difference between the workbook’s mid-2025 estimate (413,973) and the Abstract’s (417,634), or for the differing census figures in the table above. SIB’s home page calls 418,982 an estimate; its workbook calls it projected. The World Bank’s feed printed no 2026 value.
How we researched this
On 14 November 2026 we downloaded SIB’s Key Findings Report for the 2022 census, the Abstract of Statistics 2025 and the workbook PopulationEstimates_2022-2026_AdministrativeAreas.xlsx, and extracted the tables quoted above, reading the workbook’s cells as whole numbers as the file displays them. We read SIB’s home page headline the same day and requested the World Bank’s SP.POP.TOTL series for Belize from its public data API. Nothing on this page is calculated, combined or averaged.
Sources
- Statistical Institute of Belize — Key Findings Report, 2022 Population and Housing Census (PDF) — the 397,483 count and the 2010 count, census dates, method and regions, growth of 75,060 and 23.3%, the 1861 count, the census-history table, Table 2.2 district figures
- Statistical Institute of Belize — Abstract of Statistics 2025 (PDF) — Table 1.4 district estimates 2023-2025, Table 1.6 national mid-year estimates, Table 1.8 census counts by district, sex and urban/rural
- Statistical Institute of Belize — Population estimates 2022-2026 by administrative area (XLSX) — Table 2.1 estimates for 2022-2025, the projected 2026 figures by district and town, its census column
- Statistical Institute of Belize — home page — the 418,982 Mid-Year Estimate, July 2026
- World Bank Open Data API — Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL), Belize — values for 2022-2025 and the 2026-11-11 update date
Last verified: 2026-11-14
Researched and written by Estuardo Enriquez for belizetravelblog.com, an independent site with no connection to any airport, airline, tour operator or government body.