Publication: Panama Poverty and Equity Assessment 2024: From Growth to Prosperity
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Published
2025-02-12
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2025-02-12
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Panama has been one of the fastest-growing countries in the region, with rapid economic expansion accompanied by significant poverty reduction. Driven by public and private investment as well as labor accumulation, the Panamanian economy grew by an annual average of 5.7 percent between 1990 and 2023, much higher than the regional average of 2.5 percent. This growth contributed to a significant reduction in poverty. Using the poverty line of US$6.85 per day per capita (2017 PPP), the share of Panamanians affected by poverty improved from one in two in 1989 to only one in ten lived in 2023. Nevertheless, Panama remains one of the most unequal countries in the world. While poverty in urban areas was 4.8 percent in 2023, poverty in indigenous regions (comarcas) reached 76 percent—15 times higher. Limited progress in reducing inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, contrasts with Panama’s achievements in other areas. Globally, Panama ranked 11th in inequality in 2000, with a Gini coefficient of 53.8. Two decades later, it ranked 8th, with a Gini coefficient of 50.9 as of 2022. This report examines Panama’s achievements and challenges in reducing poverty and inequality to inform policy options. With a special focus on the 2008–2023 period the report documents progress in poverty and equity in recent decades, highlighting access to basic services, expansion of quality jobs, improvement of human capital, and promotion of household resilience as critical policy priorities.
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“World Bank. 2025. Panama Poverty and Equity Assessment 2024: From Growth to Prosperity. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42800 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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