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Guyana

Includes Guyana real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Guyana economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Guyana best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Parliamentary republic

Capital City: Georgetown 

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Bank of Guyana
Currency Guyanese dollars (GYD)
International Reserves USD 0.5 billion (2018)

International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 3.6 billion (2018, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) Intl$ 6.7 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2007 7%
2008 2%
2009 3.3%
2010 4.4%
2011 5.4%
2012 5%
2013 5%
2014 3.9%
2015 3.1%
2016 3.4%
2017* 2.1%
2018* 3.4%

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 4,648.7 (2018, estimate)
GDP per capita – PPP Intl$ 8,519.0 (2018, estimate)
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 1980 0.01%
1990 0.01%
2000 0.01%
2010 0.01%
2019* 0.005%
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 15.4%
industry: 31.9%
services: 42%
(2017 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) N/A
Inflation 2015 -0.9%%
2016 0.8%
2017 1.9%
2018* 1.3%
2019* 2.1%

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2015 -0.9%%
2016 0.8%
2017 1.9%
2018* 1.3%
2019* 2.1%

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings
Standard & Poor’s: N/A

Moody’s: N/A

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s
Unemployment rate 2015 N/A
2016 N/A
2017 N/A
2018* N/A
2019* N/A

*Estimate
Household saving rates N/A
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2015 50.1%
2016 50.7%
2017 51.4%
2018* 52.9%
2019* 55.5%

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2015 -1.2%
2016 -4.3%
2017 -4.3%
2018* -3.5%
2019* -4.8%

*Estimate

Market value of publicly traded shares 2016 N/A
2017 N/A
2018 N/A
Largest Companies N/A

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 45.2% (2017)
Shares in world total merchandising export 0.01% (2018)

Shares in world total commercial services export 0.002% (2017)
Total exports USD 1.6 billion (2017 estimate)
Export commodities Sugar, gold, bauxite, alumina, rice, shrimp, molasses, rum, timber
Total imports USD 2.1 billion (2017 estimate)
Import commodities Manufactures, machinery, petroleum, food
Exports – major partners Canada 24.9%, US 16.5%, Panama 9.6%, UK 7.7%, Jamaica 5.1%, Trinidad and Tobago 5%(2017)
Imports – major partners Trinidad and Tobago 27.5%, US 26.5%, China 8.9%, Suriname 6.1% (2017)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD -0.7 billion (2018 estimate)
Current account balance by percentage of GDP -17.5 % (2018 estimate)
FDI inflows 2016 USD 58 million
2017 USD 212 million
2018 USD 495 million
FDI Outflows 2016 USD 26.0 million
2017 USD 0.0 million
2018 USD 0.0 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2015 N/A
2016 N/A
2017 N/A
2018 N/A


United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – World Investment Report
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

134 out of 190 countries

Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 111 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 167 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 170 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 128 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 94 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 88 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 122 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 151 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 92 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 163 out of 190 countries
Global competitiveness ranking N/A
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 113 / Score: 56.8 (Mostly unfree)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Total Area 214,969 sq km

Total Population 1990 0.72 Million
2000 0.74 Million
2010 0.75 Million
2015 0.77 Million
2020* 0.79 Million

*Estimate
Urban population as % of total population 1960 29%
1980 30.5%
2000 28.7 28.7 28.7%
2018 26.6%
Population median age 26.7 years
Population growth rate 0.48% (2018 estimate)
Life expectancy 68.9 years (2018 estimate)
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day N/A
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) N/A
Freedom House rating Free
Political Rights: 2
Civil Liberties: 3 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population Fixed: 17.5%

Mobile: 83%

(2017)

(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 37.33 % (2017)

Language & Religon

Languages English (official), Guyanese Creole, Amerindian languages (including Caribbean and Arawak languages), Indian languages (including Caribbean Hindustani, a dialect of Hindi), Chinese(2014 est.)
Literacy Total population: 88.5%
Male: 87.2%
Female: 89.8%
Definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school (2015 est.)
Religions Protestant 34.8% (Pentecostal 22.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 5.4%, Anglican 5.2%, Methodist 1.4%), Hindu 24.8%, Roman Catholic 7.1%, Muslim 6.8%, Jehovah’s Witness 1.3%, Rastafarian 0.5%, other Christian 20.8%, other 0.9%, none 3.1% (2012 est.)

World Rankings

Population 0.79 million
Mercer Cost of living index N/A
C02 Emissions per capita 2.63 metric tons per capita (2014)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Guyana

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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