Share of population living below national poverty lines in Panama
Panama: Share of population living below national poverty lines was 21.7% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Panama, 2000–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of population.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of population living below national poverty lines in Panama is 21.7%, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of down 2.3% on the previous year and down 15.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living below national poverty lines in Panama peaked at 38.3% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 20.7%, in 2017.
Panama ranks 23rd of 70 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 19 years of available data.
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Panama, year by year
| Year | % of population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 37.9% | — |
| 2005 | 36.6% | -3.4% |
| 2006 | 38.3% | +4.6% |
| 2007 | 36.5% | -4.7% |
| 2008 | 33.8% | -7.4% |
| 2009 | 33.4% | -1.2% |
| 2010 | 29.8% | -10.8% |
| 2011 | 27.6% | -7.4% |
| 2012 | 26.5% | -4.0% |
| 2013 | 25.8% | -2.6% |
| 2014 | 25.6% | -0.8% |
| 2015 | 23.0% | -10.2% |
| 2016 | 22.1% | -3.9% |
| 2017 | 20.7% | -6.3% |
| 2018 | 21.4% | +3.4% |
| 2019 | 21.5% | +0.5% |
| 2021 | 21.8% | +1.4% |
| 2022 | 22.2% | +1.8% |
| 2023 | 21.7% | -2.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 36.1% | 33.4% | 38.3% | 6 |
| 2010s | 24.4% | 20.7% | 29.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 21.9% | 21.7% | 22.2% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Panama
More poverty & inequality data for Panama
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 7 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 2.12 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,226 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -5.59 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 12.5 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 12.5% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living below national poverty lines in Panama?
- Share of population living below national poverty lines in Panama was 21.7% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Panama?
- The highest recorded value was 38.3% in 2006.
- What is the lowest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Panama?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.7% in 2017.
- How does Panama rank for share of population living below national poverty lines?
- Panama ranks 23rd out of 70 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of population living below national poverty lines rising or falling in Panama?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Panama data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living below national poverty lines. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty lines. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.