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Country Snapshot - Guatemala  

HighlightsRankingsQuantitative DataLegislationAnalytical WorkProject Portfolio
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Lower middle income
  • 14,376,881 (2011)
  • 2,740
Guatemala Flag
Below are select highlights for the data included in the profile.

  1. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Guatemala’s score is 61.9, making its economy the 79th freest in the 2011 Index. Its score has increased by 0.9 point, reflecting gains in five of the 10 economic freedoms. Guatemala is ranked 17th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is above the world average. Guatemala has achieved steady economic growth over the past five years, and economic freedom has continued to advance. The economy performs relatively well in trade freedom and fiscal freedom. With tariff barriers dropping, Guatemala’s trade freedom has improved. Personal and corporate tax rates are moderate, and the overall tax burden is relatively low. Effective management of government expenditures was maintained during the recent global financial crisis. Ongoing challenges to overall economic freedom in Guatemala include a relative lack of business freedom, weak respect for property rights, and widespread corruption. Business licensing procedures are burdensome, and bureaucratic impediments persist. Judicial inefficiency undermines the rule of law.
  2. The overall Doing Business ranking is lower this year, reflecting lower scores in four indicators. The most drastic drop occurred for the Paying Taxes Indicator where the country dropped 8 spots. However, this decline was offset by a slight improvement in the Registering Property and Enforcing Contracts Indicators.