Country profile · PA
Panama City · Central America
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Species, IUCN status, protected areas
History view & timeline of notable moments
Looking for Panama’s population, area, or density? The headline figures are here, answer-first — every one citable to its primary source.
Deep diveMexico's Temporary Resident Visa 2026: The Income Bar Moved — Here's What It Actually Takes NowMexico is one of the most popular relocation destinations for North Americans, and the visa almost all of them use isn't a "retirement visa" at all — it's the general Temporary Resident visa (often…Panama is the 129th most populous of the 250 countries we track. At 60 people/km² it is denser than 36% of them.
Every figure links to its primary source — open them, question them, find a fresher one if you can. The category sections below go deeper; lateral views (biodiversity, critical events) are in the header above.
GDP, human development, happiness, connectivity
Panama's GDP per capita is $19.2k (current US$, 2024). Its Human Development Index, which combines life expectancy, education, and income, sits at 0.839 (2023). Every number above links to its primary source; we encourage you to verify the latest figures directly.
5 indicators cited · validated May 26
Panama offers among Central America's best infrastructure paired with territorial taxation — a structural advantage for foreign-source income earners. Panama City is most expensive; Boquete (mountain expat hub), Coronado (beach), and David (regional center) significantly cheaper. PA's WB gdp_per_capita_usd is ~USD 17,500 (2023) — Central America's highest. Inflation ran 1.5% (2024). Healthcare OOP via WB is ~USD 90/month per capita.
For a solo expat in Panama City: ~USD 1,500/month baseline. Boquete or David: USD 900-1,100. Coronado: ~USD 1,400 (beach premium). Family of three Panama City: ~USD 2,800; smaller cities ~USD 1,800-2,200.
Panama operates territorial taxation — foreign-source income earned by Panamanian residents is generally NOT taxed by Panama. Standard top marginal personal income tax on Panama-source only reaches 25% per OECD Tax Database; standard ITBMS (Panama's VAT-equivalent) is 7%; corporate tax 25%. The Panama Pensionado visa carries an additional structural advantage: direct PR on approval, eliminating the typical 1-3 year temporal-residency intermediate step common to other LatAm pension visas.
Two caveats. Panama uses USD as currency alongside the Balboa — eliminating exchange-rate risk for USD-earners but also pinning consumer prices to USD trends. Second, Panama Pensionado holders face a structural mismatch: the territorial-tax benefit applies to all Panama residents, but the Pensionado's USD 1,000/month threshold is denominated in USD (some applicants assume Panama would adopt a local-currency threshold; it does not).
These figures are reference baselines drawn from primary government and supranational sources — each indicator has a methodology page that documents the source dataset, refresh cadence, and known limitations of what it does and does not capture. Browse the full Panama country profile for the latest values across these indicators, or read the methodology page for health_expenditure_per_capita_usd to understand the underlying basis. You can also compare Panama with similar destinations side-by-side using your own weighting of cost-of-living, tax, and quality-of-life dimensions — the comparison tool surfaces the same indicator data with the per-indicator citations preserved.
Sources
Want to compare Panama’s cost data against other countries? Open the match engine →
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI)
Panama scores 52 out of 100 on the World Bank's Rule of Law measure (2024). Its Voice & Accountability score, which captures citizens' ability to participate in selecting government and free expression, is 65. These are composite indicators built from many underlying surveys — follow the source links to see their full methodology.
Life expectancy, healthcare resources, mortality
Life expectancy at birth in Panama is 79.6 years (2023, World Bank). Mortality figures below are sensitive to data lag — some countries report several years behind real time.
Air quality and protected areas
Terrestrial protected areas cover 31.4% of land — the Kunming-Montréal global target is 30% by 2030.
Population total and density
3 programs sourced from issuing government
Digital Nomad
Short Stay Visa for Remote Workers
Dur 9moMin $3k/yr
Digital Nomad
Friendly Nations Visa
Dur 2y
Retirement
Pensionado Visa
Min $1k/mo
Tap any program for full eligibility, fees, and the official source — or compare Panama’s 3 programs side-by-side →
Validated May 26
Panama operates three distinct relocation tracks, each with different applicant profiles and structural advantages: the Pensionado Visa, the Short Stay Visa for Remote Workers, and the Friendly Nations Visa. All administered by the Servicio Nacional de Migración (SNM).
The Panama Pensionado is unusually generous among Latin American pension visas: USD 1,000/month lifetime pension required, and grants DIRECT permanent residency on approval (most LatAm pensionado tracks require 1-3 years of temporal residency first). Fees ~USD 1,300. The Short Stay Visa for Remote Workers requires USD 36,000/year (~USD 3,000/month) foreign-source income; 9-month duration, renewable once for 18 months total; NOT a PR pathway. The Friendly Nations Visa is open to ~50 friendly-nation citizens (US, Canada, EU, AU, NZ, UK, etc.) — provisional 2-year residence converting to PR after 2 years. The 2021 reform added economic requirements: either USD 200K real estate purchase, USD 200K fixed-term deposit, or qualifying Panamanian employment.
Panama operates territorial taxation: foreign-source income earned by Panamanian residents is generally NOT taxed by Panama. Standard top marginal personal income tax (Panama-source only) reaches 25%. Corporate tax 25%. ITBMS (Panama's VAT-equivalent) is 7% standard. Path to citizenship: 5 years of permanent residency typically.
Two caveats. First, the Pensionado's "direct PR on approval" is a major structural advantage for retirees — but the USD 1,000/month lifetime pension threshold is denominated in USD (Panama uses USD as currency alongside the Balboa) and applies only to PERMANENT, lifetime pension sources (foreign government, private corporate pension, etc.) — not to investment income or savings withdrawals. Second, the Friendly Nations Visa 2021 reform tightened requirements substantially; older aggregator advice referencing "USD 5,000 bank deposit only" is now stale. Compare Panama's three programmes or browse Panama.
Primary-source verification: visa administration via Servicio Nacional de Migración; tax-side rules via Dirección General de Ingresos.
Sources
Want the side-by-side view? Compare Panama’s 3 programs in the matrix →
Featured in
Every list below is a multi-indicator query whose criteria Panama satisfies on the current data. Click any chip to see the full ranked list and tweak the thresholds.
Same subregion: Central America