Panama Issues - 2023

Disputes - international

Panama-Colombia: organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia operate within the remote border region with Panama

Panama-Costa Rica: none identified

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 147,424 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum or have received alternative legal stay) (2023)

Illicit drugs

not a major consumer or producer of illicit drugs; a prime sea and land passage for drugs, primarily cocaine, from South America to North America and Europe;   drug traffickers also use millions of shipping containers to smuggle drugs to North America and Europe through the Panama

NOTE: The information regarding Panama on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Panama 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Panama 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.