Panama Economy - 2024

Economic overview

upper middle-income Central American economy; increasing Chinese trade; US dollar user; canal expansion fueling broader infrastructure investment; services sector dominates economy; historic money-laundering and illegal drug hub

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$126.352 billion (2021 est.)
$109.551 billion (2020 est.)
$133.509 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

15.34% (2021 est.)
-17.94% (2020 est.)
2.98% (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$29,000 (2021 est.)
$25,500 (2020 est.)
$31,500 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$66.801 billion (2019 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

1.63% (2021 est.)
-1.55% (2020 est.)
-0.36% (2019 est.)

Credit ratings

Fitch rating: BBB (2011)

Moody's rating: Baa1 (2019)

Standard & Poors rating: BBB (2020)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 2.4% (2017 est.)

industry: 15.7% (2017 est.)

services: 82% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 45.6% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 10.7% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 42.9% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 3% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 41.9% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -44.2% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

sugar cane, bananas, rice, poultry, milk, plantains, pineapples, maize, beef, pork

Industries

construction, brewing, cement and other construction materials, sugar milling

Industrial production growth rate

37.5% (2021 est.)

Labor force

1.966 million (2021 est.)

note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor

Unemployment rate

12.09% (2021 est.)
12.85% (2020 est.)
4.73% (2019 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 30% (2021 est.)

male: 21.8%

female: 43.6%

Population below poverty line

22.1% (2016 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

49.8 (2019 est.)

Average household expenditures

on food: 15.7% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco: 1.7% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 1.1%

highest 10%: 38.9% (2014 est.)

Remittances

0.89% of GDP (2021 est.)
0.84% of GDP (2020 est.)
0.87% of GDP (2019 est.)

Budget

revenues: $9.743 billion (2020 est.)

expenditures: $15.145 billion (2020 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-1.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

37.8% of GDP (2017 est.)
37.4% of GDP (2016 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

8.51% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

-$1.412 billion (2021 est.)
$1.097 billion (2020 est.)
-$3.329 billion (2019 est.)

Exports

$27.237 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$20.179 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$28.622 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

note: includes the Colon Free Zone

Exports - partners

Ecuador 20%, Guatemala 14%, China 8%, United States 6%, Netherlands 6% (2019)

Exports - commodities

refined petroleum, copper, bananas, ships, coal tar oil, packaged medicines (2019)

Imports

$24.627 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$17.502 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$27.599 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

note: includes the Colon Free Zone

Imports - partners

China 21%, United States 19%, Japan 16%, Colombia 6%, Ecuador 5% (2019)

Imports - commodities

ships, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, tanker ships, packaged medicines (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$9.614 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$3.423 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$2.121 billion (31 December 2018 est.)

Debt - external

$101.393 billion (2019 est.)
$94.898 billion (2018 est.)

Exchange rates

balboas (PAB) per US dollar -

Exchange rates:
1 (2021 est.)
1 (2020 est.)
1 (2019 est.)
1 (2018 est.)
1 (2017 est.)