eal growth rate: 3.6% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$6,700 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 8%
industry: 18%
services: 74% (1997 est.)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 1.2% (1997)

Labor force:
total: 1.044 million (1997 est.)
by occupation: government and community services 31.8%, agriculture,
hunting, and fishing 26.8%, commerce, restaurants, and hotels 16.4%,
manufacturing and mining 9.4%, construction 3.2%, transportation and
communications 6.2%, finance, insurance, and real estate 4.3%
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor

Unemployment rate: 13.1% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.4 billion
expenditures: $2.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $341
million (1997 est.)

Industries: construction, petroleum refining, brewing, cement and
other construction materials, sugar milling

Industrial production growth rate: 0.4% (1995 est.)

Electricity-capacity: 957 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 3.6 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 1,355 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane,
vegetables; livestock; fishing (shrimp)

Exports:
total value: $592 million (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: bananas 43%, shrimp 11%, sugar 4%, clothing 5%, coffee 2%
partners: US 37%, EU, Central America and Caribbean

Imports:
total value: $2.95 billion (c.i.f., 1997 est.)
commodities: capital goods 21%, crude oil 11%, foodstuffs 9%, consumer
goods, chemicals
partners: US 48%, EU, Central America and Caribbean, Japan

Debt-external: $7.26 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: NA

Currency: 1 balboa (B) = 100 centesimos

Exchange rates: balboas (B) per US$1-1.000 (fixed rate)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 273,000 (1991 est.)

Telephone system: domestic and international facilities well developed
domestic: NA
international: 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth stations-2
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to the Central American Microwave
System

Radio broadcast stations: AM 91, FM 0, shortwave 0

Radios: 564,000 (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 23

Televisions: 420,000 (1992 est.)

@Panama:Transportation

Railways:
total: 355 km
broad gauge: 76 km 1.524-m gauge
narrow gauge: 279 km 0.914-m gauge

Highways:
total: 11,100 km
paved: 3,730 km (including 30 km of expressways)
unpaved: 7,370 km (1