A Central American country stretching from Costa Rica to the west across to its southeastern border with South America’s Colombia, the Republic of Panama shipped US$12.3 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2025.

That dollar amount results from an -7.7% slowdown compared to $13.4 billion five years earlier in 2021.

Year over year, Panamanian exports declined in value by -6.4% from $13.2 billion starting in 2024.

Note that metrics were per source data available on date of article publication.

Panama’s Largest Trade Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 61% of products exported from Panama was bought by importers in: Colombia (8% of the Panamanian total), Venezuela (7.5%), Costa Rica (7.3%), United States of America (6.8%), Guatemala (5.7%), Cuba (4.7%), Dominican Republic (4.1%), Honduras (3.7%), Nicaragua (3.6%), El Salvador (3.4%), Ecuador (3.3%) and Chile (2.9%).

From a continental perspective, more than three-quarters (77.8%) of Panama’s exports by value was delivered to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean while 9.2% was sold to importers in North America.

Panama shipped another 8.2% worth of goods to buyers in Asia.

Smaller percentages went to customers in Europe (4.5%), Africa (0.3%) then Oceania (0.05%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.

Given Panama’s population of 4.6 million people, its total US$12.3 billion in 2025 exports translates to roughly $2,700 for every resident in the Central American nation. That per-capita metric lags the average $3,500 for 2024.

Panama’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Panamanian global shipments during 2025. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Panama.

1. Pharmaceuticals: US$2.1 billion (14.7% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $1.54 billion (4.1%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $1.52 billion (12.8%)
4. Perfumes, cosmetics: $776.6 million (3.4%)
5. Footwear: $691.9 million (14.8%)
6. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $567.7 million (5%)
7. Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $567.4 million (9.6%)
8. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $425.2 million (6.9%)
9. Gems, precious metals: $418.3 million (3.3%)
10. Vehicles: $361.7 million (5.6%)

Panama’s top 10 exported product categories generated well over two-thirds (72.5%) of the overall value of its global shipments.

Gems and precious metals represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 49.4% from 2024 to 2025.

In second place for improving export sales were beverages, spirits and vinegar via a 9.3% advance.

Panama’s shipments of vehicles posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 3.1%.

The severest decliners among Panama’s top 10 export categories were unknitted and non-crocheted clothing or accessories (down -30% from 2024) and footwear (down -23.6%).

The above listed product categories are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.

Drilling down to the more detailed 4-digit HTS codes, Panama’s most valuable exported products were medication mixes in dosage (15.3% of the Panamanian total), phone devices including smartphones (4.7%), perfumes or toilet waters (4%), alcohol including spirits and liqueurs (3.7%), computers or optical readers (3.5%), printing machinery (3%), rubber or plastic footwear (2.8%), copper ores and concentrates (also 2.8%), jewelry (2.4%) then television receivers, monitors and projectors (1.8%).

Products Generating Panama’s Largest Trade Surpluses

The following types of Panamanian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Ores, slag, ash: US$339.7 million (Down by -292937.1% since 2024)
2. Fish: $185.8 million (Up by 19.5%)
3. Fruits, nuts: $27.8 million (Down by -72.3%)
4. Coffee, tea, spices: $9.4 million (Down by -365.3%)
5. Lead: $9.4 million (Down by -12.5%)
6. Textile floor coverings: $5 million (Down by -68.7%)
7. Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $4 million (Down by -150%)
8. Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $3 million (Up by 26.1%)
9. Woodpulp: $1.9 million (Up by 33.3%)

Panama has highly positive net exports in the international trade of copper ores and concentrates. In turn, these cashflows indicate Panama’s strong competitive advantages under the ores, slag and ash product category.

Products Causing Panama’s Worst Trade Deficits

Overall, Panama incurred a -US$13.49 billion product trade deficit during 2025, reducing by -0.1% from -$13.51 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2024.

Below are exports from Panama that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Panama’s goods trail Panamanian importer spending on foreign products.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.5 billion (Down by -3.5% since 2022)
2. Vehicles: -$1.5 billion (Up by 18.8%)
3. Machinery including computers: -$1.2 billion (Up by 5.2%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.1 billion (Up by 18.3%)
5. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): -$509.4 million (Up by 34.5%)
6. Pharmaceuticals: -$493.2 million (Up by 113.5%)
7. Plastics, plastic articles: -$472.5 million (Up by 5.5%)
8. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$369.9 million (Up by 2.4%)
9. Footwear: -$361.3 million (Up by 705.2%)
10. Miscellaneous food preparations: -$324.2 million (Up by 9.4%)

Panama has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels including oil product category.

Panamanian Export Companies

Not one Panamanian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.

Wikipedia identifies some international trade-related entities conducting business in Panama. Selected examples are shown below:

• Bering Motors (automobiles)
• DHL Aero Expreso (cargo airliner)

A considerable number of Panamanian exporters list their products on the global sales portal Alibaba.com. The following are selected examples; each firm’s principal products are shown within parentheses.

1. CIBO SA (sugar)
2. Gainway Metal Recycling Corp (scrap metal)
3. Grupo Prado E Hijos (cargo ships)
4. Interbahn Global Ltd (teak logs)
5. Kwinana Tech International (computers, accessories)
6. Live Well Pharmaceuticals (drugs, medicines)
7. PILSA (rum)
8. Salva-Mar SA (fresh fish)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Panama’s total exported goods represent 6.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($200.2 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 6.2% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 lags the 8.8% two years earlier in 2023. Those percentages suggest a decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Panama’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Panama’s unemployment rate averaged 4.566% for 2025, up from an average 4.51% in 2024 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.

Panama’s capital is Panama City.

See also Costa Rica’s Top 10 Exports, Guatemala’s Top Trading Partners, Honduras Top 10 Imports, Colombia’s Top Trading Partners and Top US Trading Partners

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Central America and Caribbean: Panama. Accessed on April 20, 2026

Forbes 2025 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 20, 2026

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 20, 2026

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 20, 2026

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 20, 2026

Wikimedia Commons, Flag of Panama. Accessed on April 20, 2026

Wikipedia, Panama. Accessed on April 20, 2026

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Panama. Accessed on April 20, 2026