Economy - overview The agricultural sector accounts for about one-fourth of GDP, two-thirds of exports, and half of the labor force. Coffee, sugar, and bananas are the main products. Former President ARZU (1996-2000) worked to implement a program of economic liberalization and political modernization. The 1996 signing of the peace accords, which ended 36 years of civil war, removed a major obstacle to foreign investment. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused relatively little damage to Guatemala compared to its neighbors. Ongoing challenges include increasing government revenues, negotiating further assistance from international donors, and increasing the efficiency and openness of both government and private financial operations. Despite low international prices for Guatemala's main commodities, the economy grew by 3% in 2000 and 2.3% in 2001. Guatemala, along with Honduras and El Salvador, recently concluded a free trade agreement with Mexico and has moved to protect international property rights. However, the PORTILLO administration has undertaken a review of privatizations under the previous administration, thereby creating some uncertainty among investors.

GDP purchasing power parity - $48.3 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 2.3% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 23%
industry: 20%
services: 57% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line 60% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 46% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index 55.8 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 7.6% (2001)

Labor force 4.2 million (1999 est.)

Labor force - by occupation agriculture 50%, industry 15%, services 35% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate 7.5% (1999 est.)

Budget
revenues: $2.1 billion
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals, rubber, tourism

Industrial production growth rate 4.1% (1999)

Electricity - production 5.929 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 50.35%
hydro: 44.54%
other: 5.11% (2000)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption 4.797 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 840 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 123 million kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products sugarcane, corn, bananas, coffee, beans, cardamom; cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens

Exports $2.9 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities coffee, sugar, bananas, fruits and vegetables, cardamom, meat, apparel, petroleum, electricity

Exports - partners US 57%, El Salvador 8.7%, Costa Rica 3.7%, Nicaragua 2.8%, Germany 2.6% (2000)

Imports $4.9 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity

Imports - partners US 35.2%, Mexico 12.6%, South Korea 7.9%, El Salvador 6.4%, Venezuela 3.9% (2000)

Debt - external $4.5 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient $212 million (1995)

Currency quetzal (GTQ), US dollar (USD), others allowed

Currency code GTQ; USD

Exchange rates quetzales per US dollar - 8.0165 (January 2002), 7.8586 (2001), 7.7632 (2000), 7.3856 (1999), 6.3947 (1998), 6.0653 (1997)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Guatemala on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guatemala Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Guatemala Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.