Panama's external balance on goods and services (% of GDP) was 5.04% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 10.23 percentage points from -5.19% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 5.04% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | -0.000302% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | -5.19% | 2014 |
| Highest | 5.04% | 2024 |
| Lowest | -14.96% | 1974 |
| Average since 2015 | 1.22% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | -8.59% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Panama's external balance on goods and services (% of GDP) rose 2.13 percentage points on 2023 (from 2.91% to 5.04%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.48 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 14.47 percentage points in 1996 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.34 percentage points in 1974. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.75 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 82% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 7.35% for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.64%, against 0.88% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2024, Panama had the 9th highest value of the 33 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Panama | 5.04% | 2024 |
| World | 0.98% | 2025 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | -0.28% | 2025 |
| High income | 0.93% | 2025 |
Closest to Panama in the 2024 ranking
- Aruba — 5th of 33: 7.8%
- Zambia — 6th of 33: 7.43%
- Kazakhstan — 7th of 33: 6.01%
- Faroe Islands — 9th of 33: 3.36%
- Iraq — 10th of 33: 2.39%
- Belize — 11th of 33: 1.47%
What this measures
The balance of international trade in goods and services is the difference between the exports and imports of goods and services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 65 values
| Year | External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 5.04 |
| 2023 | 2.91 |
| 2022 | 2.58 |
| 2021 | 3.08 |
| 2020 | 3.84 |
| 2019 | -0.0003 |
| 2018 | -1.44 |
| 2017 | -1.11 |
| 2016 | -0.9145 |
| 2015 | -1.81 |
| 2014 |
External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Argentina — 0.75% (2025)
- Aruba — 7.8% (2024)
- Bahamas, The — -3.68% (2024)
- Belize — 1.47% (2024)
- Bolivia — -4.11% (2024)
- Brazil — 0.35% (2025)
- Chile — 4.14% (2025)
- Colombia — -5.4% (2025)
- Costa Rica — 6.21% (2025)
- Cuba
More economic policy & debt data for Panama
- Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$6.24 billion (2025)
- Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$6.24 billion (2025)
- Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices (current US$) — US$88.24 billion (2025)
- Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices (current LCU) — 88.24 billion (2025)
- GDP (current US$) — US$90.46 billion (2025)
- GDP (current LCU) — 90.46 billion (2025)
- GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$80.68 billion (2025)
- GDP (constant LCU) — 84.75 billion (2025)
- GDP per capita (current US$) — US$19,790 (2025)
- GDP per capita (current LCU) — 19,790 (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Panama's external balance on goods and services (% of GDP)?
- 5.04% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 13.63 percentage points from -8.59% in 1960. The highest value was 5.04% in 2024 and the lowest -14.96% in 1974.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.RSB.GNFS.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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