Perhaps the most pronounced feature of the Belizean population, aside from its ethnic heterogeneity, is its small size. In 1980 the population was around at around 145,500. Slightly more than 50 % of the people resided in 8 urban areas, with more than 30 % in Belize City. By 1990, the pattern of population distribution had changed, with 52 % of the around 191,500 Belizeans living in rural areas. The growth in the rural population during the 1980s stemmed primarily from the influx of Central American immigrants who moved to Belize's nationside. Meanwhile, many urban Belizeans moved to the United States and elsewhere. Even with the increase in its overall population, Belize remained one of the least densely populated countries in the Americas, averaging 8.5 persons per square kilometer in 1991.

Belize is separated administratively into six districts: Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize, Cayo, Stann Creek, and Toledo. In 1991, more than 1/3 Belizeans lived in Belize District including Belize City, which had a population density five times greater than the least populated district, Toledo.

The average crude birthrate for Belize experienced slow but steady decline, from 44 per 1,000 population in 1964 to 35.0 per 1,000 in 1990. The average fertility rate also dropped from nearly 7 children per woman in the late 1960s to 5.3 in 1986. Coupled with declining death and infant mortality rates, the high birthrate between 1970 and 1980 suggested a potential population increase of more than 3.0 % for the decade. the actual increase between 1970 and 1980 was only 1.9 %, indicating a very high rate of emigration, perhaps involving as many as 1/8 Belizeans. During the 1980s, the rate of natural population increase was about 3.0 % for the decade. The difference between projected and actual population increase for the time 1980-1990 was considerably less than in the 1970s, as the actual rate of increase was some 2.4 %. The closer correspondence of these two figures reflected not so much a decline in emigration by Belizeans, as the scale and demographic impact of the immigration from the surrounding Central American republics.