01Key Takeaways
- Panama imported $14.52 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 4.6% from $15.22 billion in 2022, continuing a decline from $21.48 billion in 2019.
- A category called "Free Zones" was Panama's top import partner at 28.5% of the total ($4.14 billion), a figure tied to the country's own Colon Free Trade Zone rather than any single foreign country.
- The USA supplied 18.9% of imports ($2.75 billion), and China followed at 12.1% ($1.76 billion), pushing the top three partners to 59.5% of total import value.
- Mineral fuels led every import category at 20.1% ($2.92 billion), followed by machinery at 9.9% ($1.43 billion).
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $21.5B | $14.7B | $13.3B | $15.2B | $14.5B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Free Zones | $4.1B | 28.5% |
| 2 | United States | $2.7B | 18.9% |
| 3 | China | $1.8B | 12.1% |
| 4 | Mexico | $625.1M | 4.3% |
| 5 | Costa Rica | $498.0M | 3.4% |
| 6 | Colombia | $419.3M | 2.9% |
| 7 | Spain | $304.9M | 2.1% |
| 8 | Brazil | $300.2M | 2.1% |
| 9 | Japan | $275.8M | 1.9% |
| 10 | Guatemala | $260.3M | 1.8% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $2.9B | 20.1% |
| 2 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $1.4B | 9.9% |
| 3 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $1.2B | 8.1% |
| 4 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $1.0B | 7.1% |
| 5 | Pharmaceutical Products | $752.0M | 5.2% |
| 6 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $486.4M | 3.3% |
| 7 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $461.1M | 3.2% |
| 8 | Optical, Photographic, Cinematographic, Measuring, Checking, Precision, Medical or Surgical Instruments and Apparatus; Parts and Accessories thereof | $330.6M | 2.3% |
| 9 | Iron and Steel | $325.4M | 2.2% |
| 10 | Cereals | $310.6M | 2.1% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Imports Have Fallen Sharply From a 2019 Peak
Panama imported $14.52 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 4.6% from $15.22 billion in 2022. That decline is modest next to what came before it. Imports stood at $21.48 billion in 2019, then collapsed to $14.72 billion in 2020 as the pandemic disrupted global trade and hit Panama's shipping and logistics-dependent economy especially hard. The total kept falling in 2021, reaching $13.31 billion, the low point of the past five years.
A partial recovery followed. Imports climbed back to $15.22 billion in 2022, before easing slightly to $14.52 billion in 2023. The five-year shape here looks less like a straight decline and more like a sharp fall followed by a shallow, uneven recovery that has not come close to reaching the 2019 level. Whatever drove that earlier peak, the country's import bill has settled into a noticeably smaller range ever since. A modest 4.6% pullback in 2023, on its own, would barely register as news. Set against a total that has not recovered from a pandemic-era collapse four years earlier, it reads more like a country still finding a new equilibrium than one bouncing back toward its old trajectory.
The Colon Free Trade Zone Explains Panama's Unusual Top Import Partner
The single largest source of Panama's imports in 2023 was not a country at all. A category labeled "Free Zones" accounted for 28.5% of import value, worth $4.14 billion, more than any individual trading partner on the list. Panama operates the Colon Free Trade Zone, the largest free port in the Americas and the second-largest in the world, a customs-separate territory that receives goods from across Asia, Europe and North America before redistributing them onward. Because that zone sits outside Panama's regular customs territory, trade statistics record goods moving from the zone into the rest of the country as a distinct partner in its own right. They do not get attributed back to whichever country originally shipped the goods into the zone. That accounting quirk means Panama's own import statistics carry a built-in reminder of just how much regional trade flows through the country before it ever reaches a Panamanian store shelf or factory floor.
Among partners that are actual countries, the United States ranked first, supplying 18.9% of imports ($2.75 billion). China followed at 12.1% ($1.76 billion). Together with the Free Zones category, those two brought the top three to 59.5% of total import value. Mexico added 4.3% ($625.13 million), and Costa Rica contributed 3.4% ($497.99 million). Colombia added 2.9% ($419.28 million), and Spain contributed 2.1% ($304.89 million). Brazil added 2.1% ($300.22 million), and Japan contributed 1.9% ($275.84 million). Guatemala closed out the top ten at 1.8% ($260.26 million).
Mineral Fuels and Machinery Top the Import Category List
Mineral fuels led every import category in 2023, worth $2.92 billion, or 20.1% of the total. Machinery and mechanical appliances followed at 9.9% ($1.43 billion), and vehicles added 8.1% ($1.18 billion). Electrical machinery contributed 7.1% ($1.03 billion), and pharmaceutical products brought in 5.2% ($752.01 million). Iron and steel articles added 3.3% ($486.38 million), and plastics contributed 3.2% ($461.14 million). Optical, photographic and measuring instruments brought in 2.3% ($330.60 million), and iron and steel itself added 2.2% ($325.43 million). Cereals closed out the top ten at 2.1% ($310.65 million).
That mix points to an economy running on imported energy, transport equipment and manufactured inputs. Fuel alone accounts for a fifth of the total, a level of concentration that leaves Panama's import bill sensitive to global energy prices in any given year. None of the categories further down the list, cereals included, approaches that scale. Machinery, vehicles and electrical goods together cover a substantial share of the remainder, a mix more typical of a country building and maintaining transport and logistics infrastructure than one stocking up on finished consumer products.
Taken together, Panama's 2023 import data reflects a country whose trade statistics are shaped as much by its role as a regional logistics hub as by the needs of its own domestic market. A free trade zone stands in as the largest single source of goods, even as energy imports still dominate what actually gets consumed at home. The partner list and the category list, read side by side, describe two different economies layered on top of each other: one built around moving other people's goods through Panama's ports and free zones, and another built around running the country itself.