Special Report: How to be small and successful in Latin America (ISSN 17414474)

For over a decade Panama has been one of the world’s fastest growing economies. GDP growth averaged 7.2% from 2001-2013. Growth has recently decelerated a little, coming down to 5.1% in 2014, 5.6% in 2015, 5.0% in 2016, and 5.4% in 2017. The medium-term outlook is for growth to remain strong, supported by a large public investment programme (for example the construction of the Panama City Metro lines) and big revenue flows from ships using the Panama Canal (which was enlarged in 2016). Key sectors such as transport and logistics, mining, financial services, and tourism are all posed for growth.