Guatemala-Economic and political outline

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Published: 06 Oct 2008 17:40:49 PST

Economic indicators

GDP Indicators	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (billions USD)	23.96	27.407	30.299	33.32	35.269
GDP (constant prices, annual % change)	3.2	3.5	4.9	4.8	4.3
GDP per capita (USD)	1971.337	2157.935	2333.68	2503.788	2585.569
General government balance (in % of GDP)
Inflation rate (%)	7.6	9.1	6.6	6.2	6.1
Unemployment rate (% of the labor force)	1.8	1.8
Current Account (billions USD)	1.8	1.8
Current Account (in % of GDP)	-1.214	-1.393	-1.564	-1.699	-1.649

Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database

Note: (e) Estimated data

Breakdown of economic activity by sector	Agriculture	Industry	Services
Value added (annual % change)	3.651039	0.9377907	2.852605
Value added (in % of GDP)		18.90	58.19
Employment by sector(in % of total employment)	38.7%	20%	37.5%

Source: - last available data.

Foreign trade indicators	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Imports of goods (millions USD)	5791.006	6175.728	7175.267	8070.308
Exports of goods (millions USD)	2818.919	3059.869	3367.589	3700.597
Imports of services (millions USD)	1066.054	1126.116	1307.657	1476.643
Exports of services (millions USD)	1145.383	1058.797	1178.119	1238.022
Imports of goods and services (annual % change)	9.550291	2.496061	7.249597	1.401264	13.57231
Exports of goods and services (annual % change)	-5.719139	-1.293868	6.571951	-1.082049	12.50185
Trade Balance (millions USD)	-2972.087	-3115.859	-3807.679	-4369.712
Current Account (millions USD)	-1234.874	-1039.186	-1210.77	-1387.35
Foreign trade (in % of GDP)	46.59713	46.09074	48.0891	45.90779	46.09074
Imports of goods and services (in % of GDP)	29.47992	29.37211	31.06994	30.17418	31.94975
Exports of goods and services (in % of GDP)	17.11721	16.71863	17.01916	15.73362	16.29066

Source:

To see more products: More imports (Intracen Data)
More exports (Intracen Data)

Economic Organizations: http://www.ine.gob.gt/">National Institute of Statistics
http://www.banguat.gob.gt/default.asp?lang=2">Central Bank of Guatemala
http://www.bvnsa.com.gt/nuevositio/index.php">Guatemala Stock Exchange
Ministries: http://www.mineco.gob.gt/">Ministry of Economy
http://www.minfin.gob.gt/">Ministry of Publics Finances
Online newspapers: http://lahora.com.gt/">La Hora (in Spanish)
http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2008/abril/01/index.html">Prensa Libre (in Spanish)
http://www.sigloxxi.com/">Siglo XXI (in Spanish)
Search Engines: Istaminia Guatemala
Guatemalaweb
Guatemarket.com
Dmoz.org
Google.es
Economic portals

Executive Power
Legislative Power
Main political parties: Guatemala has a multi-party system, with 2-3 strong parties. The main political parties in the country are:
- GANA (Grand National Alliance)-consisting of PP (Patriotic Party-a nationalist party), MR (Reform Movement - advocates economic & political reforms) and PSN (National Solidarity Movement - right-wing, draws support from younger generation);
- UNE (National Unity for Hope) - a left-wing, nationalist gathering of political parties;
- FRG (Guatemalan Republican Front) - conservative, draws strong support from country's rural community.
Current political leaders: President: Alvaro COLOM Caballeros (since January 2008) - UNE
Vice President: Rafael ESPADA (since January 2008)
Next election dates: Presidential: September 2011
Parliamentary: September 2011