Panama’s Activities That Have Increased the Most in 2025 Up To October

The Monthly Index of Economic Activity (IMAE), in its original series, registered a year-on-year growth of 4.77% in October 2025, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).  The result was below the 8.36% observed in October 2024. In the accumulated period from January to October, the variation was 4.36%, while the trend cycle showed a year-on-year growth of 4.42%, lower than the 7.23% recorded a year earlier.  During October, the country’s economic activity showed positive results in most productive sectors.  Among those that had the greatest impact were transportation, storage and communications; financial intermediation; construction; hotels and restaurants; commerce; and other community, social and personal service activities. 

The transport, storage and communications sector maintained its growth, driven by the Panama Canal, reflected in toll revenues and net tons transported by ships, as well as by air transport and TEU container movement of the National Port System.  In detail, in October the Panama Canal experienced a 5.6% growth in vessel transits through the interoceanic waterway, totaling 1,029 transits, 55 more than in the same month of fiscal year 2025, when 974 were reported.  Regarding passenger traffic through Tocumen International Airport, as of the end of October, this terminal handled 1.81 million passengers, 75% of whom were connecting travelers.  Bogotá, San José, Miami, Punta Cana, and Medellín led the traffic.

Between January and October, the airport has transported more than 17.3 million passengers.  For their part, the ports handled 872,157 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in October of this year, representing an 11.1% increase compared to the same month last year. Between January and October, the National Port System accumulated a total of 8,240,994 TEUs, which signified a year-on-year increase of 3.1%.  According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), construction activity increased compared to September of this year.  It was driven by new buildings, additions, and repairs, as measured by municipal permits. This generated greater demand for supplies and boosted the operation of mines and quarries.

In this context, products such as ready-mix concrete and gray cement showed growth.  In contrast, the Panamanian Chamber of Construction indicates that the sector’s dynamism has not fully recovered due to the paralysis that occurred in the first half of the year in preferential mortgage loans , due to the lack of clarity at that time regarding the law governing these financings.  Furthermore, the same INEC report records that at the end of October the value of private constructions, additions and repairs decreased by 12.9% compared to October 2024, when they stood at 105.4 million dollars, compared to 91.84 million dollars in the same month of 2025. 

Regarding commercial activity, the INEC indicates that moderate positive rates were reported in both local retail and wholesale trade, as well as in newly registered cars, consumption of 95 octane fuels, liquefied gas and the CIF value of goods imports.  Financial intermediation continued to show positive results due to the increase in deposits and loans at the local level, while insurance activity showed favorable performance in several segments, including technical branches, personal accidents, automobiles, fire and multi-risk, individual life and health.  In the case of hotels and restaurants, performance was sustained by the arrival of tourists by air and cruise ship, which also impacted restaurant activity.

Meanwhile, entertainment and leisure services saw results associated with revenue from online gambling, table games, slot machines, and horse racing.  Other sectors with positive results were electricity and water, linked to the generation of renewable and thermal energy and to billed consumption; industrial production, due to the processing of food products such as pork and chicken and alcoholic beverages; and the agricultural sector, with positive rates in the breeding of pigs, poultry and the cultivation of pineapple for export. 

In contrast, some sectors showed unfavorable performance. The Colón Free Zone registered a negative rate, affected by the lower value of goods re-exports.  Industrial production also showed negative results, in areas such as tomato derivatives, milk and soft drinks; the agricultural sector, due to the cultivation of bananas and watermelon destined for export; and the fishing activity, due to the reduction in the export of fish and chilled and frozen fish fillets.

More Jobs Are Needed

Economist Carlos Araúz told the news media that, in order for the economy of Panamanian households to improve, it is essential that more formal jobs can be created.  Furthermore, he reiterates that it is essential, looking ahead to 2026, that the changes in the economy expected by rating agencies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s be implemented in order to maintain the investment grade.  One of the pending issues is the serious discussion about the mine; that works such as the Indio River reservoir be carried out, and that public spending be reduced and the fiscal deficit curbed.  On social issues, Araúz points out that “inequality remains significant, and the rate at which poverty is decreasing has been slowing down,” as is needed to curb this problem. 

Panama Canal begins fiscal year 2026 with 5.6% growth in vessel transits