Year over year, the overall value of Central American exports accelerated by 27% compared to $58.7 billion during 2021.
For benchmarking purposes, global exports from all countries worldwide equaled $24.487 trillion in 2022, rising 26.7% in value since 2018 and increasing by 10.6% year over year. To give further context, consider that Central American exported goods represent well under one percent (0.3%) of the global tally.
Based on statistics from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database, the total Gross Domestic Product for all Central American countries amounted to $684.8 billion for 2022. In context, the $74.5 billion in exports represents about 10.9% of total Central American economic output.
Given Central America’s population of around 52 million people, the total $74.5 billion in Central American exports during 2022 translates to roughly an average $1,450 for every person living in a Central American country.
Top Central American Export Countries
Below are the top Central American export countries plus the corresponding dollar value in global shipments for 2022. Also shown is each country’s overall share of exports from all Central American nations.
- Guatemala: US$15.8 billion (up 16.3% from 2021)
- Panama: $15.5 billion (up 15.7%)
- Costa Rica: $15.3 billion (up 6.8%)
- Honduras: $13.2 billion (up 164.9%)
- Nicaragua: $7.4 billion (up 13.3%)
- El Salvador: $7.1 billion (up 25.7%)
- Belize: $286.4 million (up 11.2%)
The fastest growers from 2021 to 2022 among Central American exporters were the Honduras (up 164.9%), El Salvador (up 25.7%) and Guatemala (up 16.3%).
The most modest year-over-year increase was the 6.8% gain for exporters located in Costa Rica.
Note that the highest populated countries in Central America are Guatemala which is home to 18.6 million residents, Honduras (10.3 million residents), Nicaragua (6.6 million residents), El Salvador (6.34 million residents), Costa Rica (5.23 million residents) and Panama (4.4 million residents).
See also Guatemala’s Top 10 Exports, Costa Rica’s Top 10 Exports, El Salvador’s Top 10 Exports and Panama’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports and Field Listing: Population. Accessed on October 17, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 17, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 17, 2023
Worldometers, Central America Population. Accessed on October 17, 2023