Latin America has made great progress in the last decade, and Panama is no exception. The country is in the midst of a four-year, USD 13.6 billion government investment programme, intended to remake the country as a shipping and logistics hub – connecting trade routes East to West, and North to South.
The results have been telling; Panama’s economic growth rate is the highest in Latin America, and one of the highest in the world, with gross domestic product rising an average of 8% annually for the past five years, to USD 36 billion in 2013 (Source: World Bank).
Serving world trade
The Panamanian economy is based primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts for nearly 80% of its GDP (Source: The World Factbook, CIA). One such service, the Panama Canal, is a major source of income for the country. Canal revenue amounted to USD 2.4 billion in 2012 – 7.2% of Panama’s GDP (Source: Panama Canal Authority).