Panama Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
Panama's dollarised economy rests primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts for four-fifths of GDP. Services include operating the Panama Canal, banking, the Colon Free Zone, insurance, container ports, flagship registry, and tourism. A slump in Colon Free Zone and agricultural exports, the global slowdown, and the withdrawal of US military forces held back economic growth in 2000-03; growth picked up in 2004 led by export-oriented services and a construction boom stimulated by tax incentives. The government has been backing tax reforms, reform of the social security program, new regional trade agreements, and development of tourism. Unemployment remains high.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $20.57 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $6,900 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 7.2%
industry: 13%
services: 79.8% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
1.32 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 20.8%, industry 18%, services 61.2% (1995 est.)

Unemployment rate:
12.6% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
37% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 35.7% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
48.5 (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
25% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3.095 billion
expenditures: $3.737 billion, including capital expenditures of $471 million (2004 est.)

Public debt:
69.2% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables; livestock; shrimp

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

Industrial production growth rate:
5.4% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
4.873 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
4.473 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
120 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
61 million kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
40,520 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Current account balance:
$-469.6 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$5.699 billion f.o.b. (includes the Colon Free Zone) (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
bananas, shrimp, sugar, coffee, clothing (1999)

Exports - partners:
US 12.2%, Nigeria 9.4%, Germany 8.4%, South Korea 8.2%, El Salvador 5.7%, Peru 5.1%, Costa Rica 5.1%, Japan 4.1% (2004)

Imports:
$7.164 billion f.o.b. (includes the Colon Free Zone) (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals

Imports - partners:
Japan 32.9%, China 10.6%, US 9.8%, South Korea 7.2%, Singapore 7.1%, Italy 4.5% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.076 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$8.78 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$197.1 million (1995)

Currency (code):
balboa (PAB); US dollar (USD)

Exchange rates:
balboas per US dollar - 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002), 1 (2001), 1 (2000)