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Panama’s total export offer reached $1,157.8 million from January to September 2026, up 17.2% from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. The fastest growth came from value-added shipments made under special regimes, not from traditional registered exports.
The numbers
The figures come from an October 29 report by INTELCOM, the ministry’s trade intelligence office, based on official data from the national statistics institute (INEC), as reported by Newsroom Panama. The total has two parts:
- Registered exports: $822.4 million, up $67.7 million, or 9%.
- Value added from special regimes: $335.3 million, up 43.8%.
By our calculation from those figures, special regimes account for about 29% of the total and roughly three-fifths of the year’s increase. Commerce Minister Julio Moltó pointed to that shift, highlighting a growing share of processed, higher-value products.
What Panama is selling
The report names frozen shrimp, bananas, palm oil, teak, pharmaceuticals and coffee among the leading products. A more detailed ministry breakdown for January to July, published by La Estrella de Panamá, put frozen shrimp first at $77.7 million, followed by bananas at $64.2 million, raw teak at $36.0 million and crude palm oil at $34.3 million. The ministry credited the growth mainly to the reactivation of fruit exports, especially bananas.
Who is buying
In that same January to July breakdown, the United States was the largest destination for registered exports at $110.9 million, or 16.9%. Taiwan followed with $83.0 million, then the Colón Free Zone with $50.4 million, the Netherlands with $48.2 million and India with $44.3 million. About 72.1% of exports went to countries with a trade agreement in force with Panama, and 66% moved by sea.
Why the numbers need context
Not every Panamanian export figure measures the same thing, and headlines this year have pointed in different directions.
The ministry’s registered exports exclude copper concentrate, because the country’s copper mine stopped operating at the end of 2023. INEC’s total for goods exports behaves differently: Revista E&N reported $534.6 million for January to June, down 22.1%, citing the Ministry of Economy and Finance. That report attributes the fall to a base effect from extraordinary shipments of stored copper-mining material in June 2025. Without that effect, other exports rose $18.2 million, or 3.5%.
The practical reading is that underlying goods exports are growing modestly, while the 17.2% headline rate also reflects the strong rise in value added under special regimes. The January to September figures in this article are the ministry’s and may differ from other official series.
What it means for businesses
- Exporters: the data shows a market still concentrated in a few products and buyers. The top ten products made up 53.6% of registered exports through July, so there is room for new categories and destinations.
- Investors: special regimes, which include free zones and the Panamá Pacífico special economic area, are where the fastest growth is showing up.
- Importers and distributors: the same logistics base serves goods moving in both directions. See this documents checklist for importing wholesale goods into Panama.
Exports are one part of Panama’s wider role in trade. Read our reports on the Panama Canal’s fiscal year 2026 and on Panama as a hub for international business.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Panama export in 2026 so far?
The ministry reports a total export offer of $1,157.8 million from January to September 2026: $822.4 million in registered exports and $335.3 million in value added from special regimes.
What are Panama’s main exports?
Frozen shrimp, bananas, palm oil, teak, pharmaceuticals and coffee are among the leading products named in the ministry’s report.
Who buys the most from Panama?
The United States was the top destination for registered exports from January to July 2026, followed by Taiwan, the Colón Free Zone, the Netherlands and India.
Does the figure include copper?
The ministry’s registered exports exclude copper concentrate. Other official goods figures have been affected by copper-related shipments, so totals from different sources are not directly comparable.
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