Guyana’s real GDP grew by 59.5% in first half of 2023

Guyana’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by an estimated 59.5 per cent for the first half of 2023 while the non-oil economy grew by 12.3 per cent.

“This is a direct result of the policy matrix of the government…reigniting the traditional sectors,” President Dr Irfaan Ali told members of the media on Saturday during a press conference at State House in Georgetown.

For context, Real GDP is an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy (in this case, Guyana’s economy) in a given year.

In simpler terms, the real GDP measures a country’s total economic output, adjusted for price changes.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing industries expanded by an estimated 7.6 per cent for the first half of this year when compared to last year, the President said, reminding the public that these sectors were in a terrible state financially when the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) took office in 2020.

“These were sectors that were completely destroyed in the five years of the last government…Forestry was in a state of bankruptcy, they did not have resources to pay the staff in Forestry,” the President said of the former APNU+AFC government.

Additionally, the sugar industry grew by 30.1 per cent, Ali revealed as he reiterated the government’s commitment to reviving the industry after several estates were shut down by the previous government.

On the other hand, the rice industry, in the first half of this year when compared to 2022, grew by an estimated 3.2 per cent.

“And we’re seeing the steady growth of the industry because of the continuous investment in drainage, irrigation, the fiscal incentives, increasing the use of technology; the expansion of research and development and the opening up of new lands,” President Ali said.

Meanwhile, other crops sector is estimated to have grown by 9.4 per cent in the first half of this year and the livestock industry grew by an estimated 9.4 per cent.

President Ali believes these results reflect the successful policies implemented by the government.

“This is what is important at the end of the day…results are what matters and this is a clear demonstration as to how the development model that we’re using is producing results.”

The forestry sector grew by 4.5 per cent, the President said, adding, “When you understand the nature of the growth of the productive sector you will know that this growth is linked to critical competence of the economy.”

He went on to note that the fishing sector has expanded by 9.9 per cent in the first half of this year while the extractive sector (mining, quarry) showed an overall growth of 89.9 per cent in the first half of this year with very strong growth in the petroleum sub-sector of 98.4 per cent.,

For the first half of this year, all the mining and quarrying grew by 45.2 per cent; the manufacturing, services and construction sectors have also seen tremendous growth.

Construction grew by 44.1 per cent and the services industry by 9.1 per cent. Meanwhile, credit to the private sector grew by five per cent; credit to business enterprises in the services and manufacturing sectors grew by 3.3 per cent and 8.9 per cent, respectively.

Real estate mortgages (mortgages for home construction) grew by 7.3 per cent.

The News Room had previously reported that though growth in Latin America and the Caribbean region is expected to slow even further this year, Guyana continues to maintain a favourable outlook.

According to a new ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report from the World Bank, Guyana’s real GDP is expected to increase by 25.2 per cent this year.

It is the only country in the region that is projected to record double-digit growth. The entire Latin America and Caribbean region should expand by 1.5 per cent this year. The Caribbean, specifically, is projected to expand by 5.1 per cent.