This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) Update assesses the evolution of Panama’s development challenges and policy priorities since the publication of the SCD in 2015. During the last eight years, Panama has experienced three major changes in its economic and social landscape: (i) economic growth, though still high, has structurally slowed down, affecting job creation and employment quality; (ii) human capital formation has not improved substantially, and the country is struggling to address the significant deterioration in education and health indicators that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and (iii) the government has demonstrated an increasingly acute awareness of the country’s vulnerability to climate change. In addition, Panama’s income per capita had the highest level of convergence within the region, reflecting its strong economic performance over the last three decades. However, the country’s remarkable gains in per capita income have not been accompanied by a commensurate improvement in economic inclusion and institutional quality. In this context, the SCD Update begins by providing an overview of Panama’s recent growth dynamics and poverty trends, before analyzing the country’s development challenges and discussing key policy priorities for achieving sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth.
Authors
- Citation
- “ World Bank . 2024 . Panama Systematic Country Diagnostic . © Washington, DC: World Bank . http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42236 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO . ”
- Collection(s)
- Systematic Country Diagnostics Spanish PDFs Available
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1596/42236
- Identifier externaldocumentum
- 34399131
- Identifier internaldocumentum
- 34399131
- Pages
- 136
- Published in
- United States of America
- Region country
- Panama
- Report
- 193835
- Rights
- CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO
- Rights Holder
- World Bank
- Rights URI
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo
- UNIT
- EFI-LCR-MTI-MacroFiscal (ELCMU)
- URI
- https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42236
- date disclosure
- 2024-10-22
- region administrative
- Latin America & Caribbean
Files
Table of Contents
- Abbreviations and Acronyms 4
- Acknowledgments 6
- 1.1. Drivers of Growth and Poverty Reduction 7
- 1.3. The SCD Update Framework 13
- 1.2. Panama’s Slowing Convergence 10
- Growth and Poverty Context 15
- 3.1. Productivity 19
- 3.1.1. Human Capital 19
- 3.3.2. Vulnerability to Natural Disasters and Environmental Sustainability 38
- 3.3.3. Key Institutions to Improve Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change 39
- 3.3. Environmental Sustainability and Vulnerability to Climate Change 37
- 3.3.1. Water Resources 37
- 3.2. Social Exclusion and Inequality 32
- 3.2.1. Vertical and Horizontal Inequalities 32
- 3.2.2. Key Institutions to Improve Inclusion 35
- 3.1.2. Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation 24
- 3.1.3. Infrastructure and Connectivity 29
- 3.1.4. Key Institutions to Improve Productivity 30
- 4.1. Build Human Capital 41
- 4.6. High-Level 50
- 4.5. Cross-Cutting: Strengthen Public Sector Institutions 48
- 4.4. Promote Environmental Sustainability and Strengthen Resilience to Natural Disasters 46
- 4.3. Ensure the Inclusion of Indigenous Communities, Rural Populations, and Women 45
- 4.2. Increase the Innovation and Entrepreneurial Capacity of Firms and the Quality of Jobs 43
- References 52
- Appendix I - Figures 58
- Appendix II - Tables 82
- Appendix III - Boxes 108
- Endnotes 117
