Budget 2025: Guyana’s economy expanded by 43.6 per cent in 2024

Guyana’s growth trajectory continued in 2024 with an estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 43.6 per cent, a notable increase from the 33 per cent expansion in 2023.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh disclosed this during his presentation of Budget 2025, themed: ‘A secure, prosperous and sustainable Guyana.’

Real gross domestic product (GDP) is an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year.

This overall GDP growth is further punctuated by the expansion of the non-oil economy by 13.1 per cent, compared to the 11.7 per cent in 2023.

This development in the non-oil economy driven primarily by increases in rice, other crops and bauxite production, as well as expansion in mining, quarrying, construction and services sectors.

Minister Singh underscored that this growth occurred in the midst of global inflationary pressures, which the government has placed considerable emphasis on cushioning.

Despite this, he noted, that inflation remained subdued, with the 12-month rate estimated at 2.9 per cent.

“The growth in the overall economy reflects continued strong expansion in oil output. This highlights Guyana’s emergence as a key player in the global energy market, but also underscored the stellar successes being achieved in building a diversified economic base,” he said.

The minister underscored that last year has proven as a significant milestone in the country’s history, reflected in the progress recorded in key sectors.

Providing an overview of the macroeconomic developments that unfurled last year, the senior minister disclosed that the agriculture, forestry and fishing sub-sectors grew by 11 per cent, while the rice growing sub-sector expanded by 9.3 per cent.

The sugar sub-sector contracted by 21.8 per cent. The forestry sub-sector and other crops sub-sector grew by 4.6 per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively.

The livestock industry also recorded notable growth with a 24.6 per cent increase.

For the extractive industries, the mining and quarrying sector expanded by 55.9 per cent, while the manufacturing sector expanded by 13.5 per cent.

The services and construction sectors expanded by 7.4 per cent and 30.8 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, private sector credit also increased by 19.8 per cent last year, reflecting the government’s commitment to creating a conducive environment.

Dr Singh noted that the overall growth in private sector credit increased almost fourfold to 72.3 per cent between 2020 and 2024.

Moreover, the oil and gas industry expanded by 57.7 per cent in 2024, with a production of 225.4 million barrels of oil.