Mid-Year Report 2025: Guyana’s economy records 7.5% growth in 1st half of 2025

– non-oil economy expanded by 13.8%
– 115.7 million barrels of oil produced

Guyana’s overall economy is estimated to have grown by 7.5 per cent, and the non-oil economy by an estimated 13.8 per cent in the first half of 2025, representing the fifth successive year of expansion in the non-oil economy at the half-year, following the contraction in 2020. Based on the developments in the first half of the year, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2025 has been revised upward to 15.2 per cent overall from 10.6 per cent, and 13.9 per cent for non-oil real GDP up from 13.8 per cent. The 2025 Mid-Year Report which was presented in the National Assembly on Monday by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh confirms that this Government is committed to sustaining high growth, while maintaining fiscal discipline and safeguarding Guyana’s long-term stability, with aggressive efforts to implement its ambitious policies and programmes.

He reflecting on his 2025 Budget presentation reiterated that it provided “a clear path to ensure that the strong economic growth achieved by the domestic economy in recent years is sustained and made more resilient, and that this unprecedented economic expansion continues to be harnessed to deliver tangible and lasting benefits for all Guyanese today and for generations to come”.
He further stated that Budget 2025 was aimed at ensuring that Guyanese are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to take advantage of the vast opportunities being created by the rapidly transforming economy.
“This, in turn, will realise our objective of translating national prosperity into community, household, and individual prosperity in the long-term. In this regard, our Government continues to emphasise the empowerment of Guyanese citizens in multiple ways, including through increased opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship, access to free education at all levels, increased opportunities for home ownership, increased disposable incomes, measures to contain the cost of living, and targeted support for children, youth, women, the elderly, and the vulnerable.” The key macroeconomic highlights in the Mid-Year Report for 2025 also stated that the revised full-year forecast for real GDP growth in 2025 is now 15.2 per cent overall and 13.9 per cent for non-oil real GDP.

Agriculture, Fishing, and Forestry
In terms of sectoral performance, the report pointed to agriculture, fishing, and forestry which expanded by an estimated 9 per cent. The sugar industry, the report stated expanded by 136.7 per cent when compared with the first half of 2024, with the full-year growth projection maintained at 115.4 per cent.
The rice industry grew by an estimated 13.9 per cent and is now expected to grow by 12.4 per cent for the entire year while other crops subsector is estimated to have grown by 7.4 per cent with a revised growth projection of 11.9 per cent for the entire year. In addition, the livestock industry expanded by an estimated 11.7 per cent which was primarily driven by increased output across all products. The subsector is now expected to grow by 7.2 per cent for the entire year.
Further, the forestry industry is estimated to have grown by 6.2 per cent and growth is expected to remain unchanged at 1.3 per cent for the year.

Extractive industries
In the extractive industries, the mining and quarrying sector has expanded by 5.9 per cent and would have been driven by increased output in bauxite, gold, other mining and oil and gas. The petroleum subsector also grew by 5.5 per cent, with 115.7 million barrels of oil produced in the first six months of this year. The industry is now projected to grow by 15.6 per cent for the entire year.
Moreover, the bauxite industry has grown by 133.1 per cent and is projected to grow further accelerate by 65.9 per cent for 2025 while the gold industry growth of 10.9 per with higher declarations from the single large producer and the small- and medium-scale miners. The other mining and quarrying industry – which comprises sand, stone, diamonds and manganese would have grown by 24.2 per cent, driven by the construction sector.

Manufacturing, Services and Construction
The manufacturing sector is estimated to have grown by 26.8 per cent and this was as a result of growth across all subcategories – other manufacturing, rice and sugar. The services sector is estimated to have expanded by 6.6 per cent primarily supported by growth in wholesale and retail trade and repairs, administrative and support services, financial and insurance activities, professional, scientific and technical services, and information and communication. The construction sector, on the other hand is estimated to have grown by 29.9 per cent supported by Government’s expanded Public Sector Investment Programme, along with robust private sector investments across several sectors.

Balance of payments
The overall balance of payments recorded a surplus of US$10.3 million with the current account recording a surplus of US$197.9 million. The merchandise trade balance reportedly registered a surplus of US$3,180.2 million. This mainly reflects the fact that, while crude exports grew by 2.6 per cent, less favourable oil prices prevailed. Non-oil export earnings, however, increased by 12.5 per cent to US$919.7 million, mainly supported by gold and bauxite expanding by US$147.5 million and US$31.1 million, respectively. Total import payments stood at US$5,894.6 million and is expected to further grow by 81.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the report added that the growth was primarily driven by an increase in imports of capital goods, which rose to US$3,881.7 million, accounting for 95.8 per cent of the overall increase. A large part of this growth was due to the importation of the One Guyana floating, production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO), valued at US$2,534.1 million.