Panama’s economy grew 3.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018, following a 3.1 percent expansion in the second quarter. Faster growth was mainly explained by rebounds in mining (+2.0 percent vs -1.6 percent in Q2) and construction (2.0 percent vs -1.5 percent), and further growth in manufacturing (1.5 percent vs 1.2 percent), retail trade (5.7 percent vs 3.5 percent), transport & communications (9.6 percent vs 9.1 percent), and financial services (3.6 percent vs 3.5 percent). In contrast, fishing plummeted 11.7 percent after an 8.2 percent jump in the previous quarter. Also, utilities (1.2 percent vs 3.6 percent) and farming (2.2 percent vs 4.0 percent) expanded at a softer pace. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Panama averaged 7.23 percent from 2010 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 12.20 percent in the second quarter of 2011 and a record low of 3.10 percent in the second quarter of 2018.
GDP Annual Growth Rate in Panama is expected to be 3.60 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Annual Growth Rate in Panama to stand at 4.70 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Panama GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 5.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.