A Central American country stretching from Costa Rica to the west across to its southeastern border with South America’s Colombia, the Republic of Panama shipped US$1.2 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2024.

That dollar amount results from an -88% setback compared to $9.7 billion five years earlier in 2020.

Year over year, Panamanian exports plunged in value by -93.1% from $16.7 billion starting in 2023.

Note that metrics were per source data available on date of article publication.

Panama’s Largest Trade Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 55.3% of products exported from Panama was bought by importers in: mainland China (8.4% of the Panamanian total), Costa Rica (6.4%), Venezuela (5.9%), United States of America (5.6%), Colombia (4.34%), Guatemala (4.32%), Honduras (4.1%), Dominican Republic (4%), Spain (3.43%), El Salvador (3.35%), Ecuador (2.8%) and Japan (2.7%).

From a continental perspective, 67% of Panama’s exports by value was delivered to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean while 17% was sold to importers in Asia. Panama shipped another 7.9% worth of goods to North America with 7.8% going to Europe.

Tinier percentages went to Africa (0.2%) and Oceania’s Australia and New Zealand (0.1%).

Given Panama’s population of 4.5 million people, its total $1.2 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $250 for every resident in the Central American nation. That per-capita metric lags the average $3,750 for 2023.

Panama’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Panamanian global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Panama.

1. Fish: US$194 million (14.7% of total exports)
2. Fruits, nuts: $184.7 million (4.1%)
3. Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $106.3 million (12.8%)
4. Gems, precious metals: $68.5 million (3.3%)
5. Iron, steel: $58.2 million (5%)
6. Sugar, sugar confectionery: $54.4 million (3.4%)
7. Food industry waste, animal fodder: $41.7 million (6.9%)
8. Wood: $37.9 million (9.6%)
9. Pharmaceuticals: $33.9 million (5.6%)
10. Coffee, tea, spices: $30.4 million (14.8%)

Panama’s top 10 exported product categories generated more than two-thirds (69.9%) of the overall value of its global shipments.

Fish represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 49.3% from 2023 to 2024.

In second place for improving export sales was fruits and nuts via a 7.1% advance.

Panama’s shipments of animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 5.4%.

The severest decliner among Panama’s top 10 export categories was pharmaceuticals, pulled down by a -98.4% year-over-year drop.

The above listed product categories are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.

Drilling down to the more detailed 4-digit HTS codes, Panama’s most valuable exported products were bananas and plantains (14.8% of the Panamanian total), lobsters and other crustaceans (12.6%), fresh whole fish (12.2%), iron or steel scrap (3.6%), palm oil (3%), sugar (2.5%), fish or marine mammal fats and oils (2.4%), inedible meat flour (2.1%), unwrought gold (1.5%), then medication mixes in dosage (1.3%).

Products Generating Panama’s Largest Trade Surpluses

The following types of Panamanian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Fish: US$155.7 million (Up by 78.4% since 2023)
2. Fruits, nuts: $100.3 million (Up by 5.1%)
3. Gems, precious metals: $38.1 million (Down by -145.7%)
4. Sugar, sugar confectionery: $17.7 million (Down by -282.3%)
5. Lead: $5.3 million (Down by -13.6%)
6. Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $2.5 million (Down by -3.1%)
7. Woodpulp: $1.4 million (Up by 140%)
8. Miscellaneous animal-origin products: $626,000 (Down by -69.1%)

Panama has highly positive net exports in the international trade of fish. In turn, these cashflows indicate Panama’s strong competitive advantages under the related product category.

Products Causing Panama’s Worst Trade Deficits

Overall, Panama incurred a -US$12.9 billion product trade deficit during 2024, slimming by -26.9% from -$17.5 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2023.

Below are exports from Panama that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Panama’s goods trail Panamanian importer spending on foreign products.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.6 billion (Down by -10% since 2022)
2. Vehicles: -$1.2 billion (Up by 4.9%)
3. Machinery including computers: -$1.1 billion (Down by -15.9%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1 billion (Down by -32.4%)
5. Pharmaceuticals: -$790.6 million (Up by 293.4%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: -$439.5 million (Down by -3.9%)
7. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$353.9 million (Up by 11.3%)
8. Miscellaneous food preparations: -$286.3 million (Down by -2%)
9. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): -$263.8 million (Up by 5.3%)
10. Cereals: -$262.4 million (Down by -15.6%)

Panama has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels including oil product category.

Panamanian Export Companies

Not one Panamanian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.

Wikipedia identifies some international trade-related entities conducting business in Panama. Selected examples are shown below:

• Bering Motors (automobiles)
• DHL Aero Expreso (cargo airliner)

A considerable number of Panamanian exporters list their products on the global sales portal Alibaba.com. The following are selected examples; each firm’s principal products are shown within parentheses.

1. CIBO SA (sugar)
2. Gainway Metal Recycling Corp (scrap metal)
3. Grupo Prado E Hijos (cargo ships)
4. Interbahn Global Ltd (teak logs)
5. Kwinana Tech International (computers, accessories)
6. Live Well Pharmaceuticals (drugs, medicines)
7. PILSA (rum)
8. Salva-Mar SA (fresh fish)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Panama’s total exported goods represent a very small % of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($187.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That tiny % for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 lags the 8.8% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Panama’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Panama’s unemployment rate averaged 8.4% for 2024, up from an average 7.431% in 2023 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.

Panama’s capital is Panama City.

See also Costa Rica’s Top 10 Exports, Guatemala’s Top Trading Partners, Honduras Top 10 Imports, Colombia’s Top Trading Partners and Top US Trading Partners

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Central America and Caribbean: Panama. Accessed on April 26, 2025

Forbes 2024 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 26, 2025

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 26, 2025

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 26, 2025

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 26, 2025

Wikimedia Commons, Flag of Panama. Accessed on April 26, 2025

Wikipedia, Panama. Accessed on April 26, 2025

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Panama. Accessed on April 26, 2025