Guyana at a Glance
Population: 799,000 (2024 est., IMF)
Ethnic Groups: Indo-Guyanese, or those of East Indian
heritage, almost 40%; Afro-Guyanese, almost 30%; mixed,
20%; Amerindian, almost 11% (2012 est., CIA)
Area: 83,000 square miles, about the size of Idaho
GDP: $24.5 billion (2024, est., current prices, IMF)
Real GDP Growth: (2023), 43.8% (2024), 14.4% (2025 est.)
(constant prices, IMF)
Per Capita GDP: $28,920 (2024 est., current prices, IMF)
Sources: International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), World Factbook.
Political and Economic Environment
Guyana has a hybrid republican/parliamentary form of
government, with a 65-member unicameral National
Assembly. The presidential candidate of the party or
coalition receiving the most votes becomes president, and
the president appoints the prime minister and Cabinet.
Current President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali of the People’s
Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the country’s March
2020 elections, defeating incumbent President David
Granger, who led a coalition consisting of A Partnership for
National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change
(AFC). In the National Assembly, Ali’s PPP/C took a
majority of 33 seats, the APNU/AFC coalition won 31
seats, and a smaller party won the remaining seat. Marred
by allegations of fraud, final elections results were delayed
until August 2020 after a recount by a CARICOM team and
multiple legal challenges by supporters of the previous
Granger government. After his inauguration, President Ali
appointed retired military leader Mark Phillips as prime
minister and former President Bharrat Jagdeo (1999-2011)
as vice president. Some observers contend that Jagdeo, who
was constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term,
plays a key role in policy decisions. Guyana’s next national
elections are scheduled to be held toward the end of 2025
Political affiliations in Guyana are traditionally not based
on ideological divisions but rather often fall along ethnic
lines. The ruling PPP/C, which traditionally has been
supported by Indo-Guyanese, governed Guyana from 1992
to 2015. The largest party in the opposition APNU coalition
is the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), which
dominated the political system from independence until
1992 and draws support from an Afro-Guyanese base. The
other main opposition party, AFC, identifies as a multiracial
party. In the aftermath of the 2020 election crisis, some
experts expressed concern about an increase in ethnic
tension and called for the adoption of a more ethnically
inclusive approach toward governing. Tensions are likely to
remain ahead of the 2025 elections, according to Guyana’s
Ethnic Relations Commission.
Oil Changes Guyana’s Economic Outlook
Guyana’s economy traditionally was based on agriculture
(rice and sugar) and mining (gold and bauxite), but the
discovery of significant amounts of offshore oil bolstered
the country’s development prospects. The U.S. Geological
Survey estimates that Guyana has reserves of 13.6 billion
barrels of oil and 32 trillion cubic feet of gas. ExxonMobil
leads a consortium that includes Hess and China National
Offshore Oil Corporation and has been involved in oil and
gas exploration in Guyana since 2008. Since 2015, the
consortium has identified numerous commercially viable
discoveries in the Stabroek Block, about 120 miles
offshore. According to ExxonMobil, after five years of
production, which began in 2019, “production capacity in
Guyana is expected to surpass 1.7 million barrels per day,
with gross production growing to 1.3 million barrels per
day, by 2030.”
Guyana’s oil production enabled the country to withstand
much of the economic fallout from COVID-19. In 2020,
despite a global recession, Guyana’s economy grew almost
44%, according to the IMF. From 2021 to 2024, economic
growth in Guyana averaged 39.8%; the IMF predicts 14%
growth in Guyana for 2025.
In 2019, Guyana’s National Assembly approved legislation
establishing the Natural Resource Fund (NRF), a sovereign
wealth fund for managing the country’s oil wealth. In
December 2021, the government approved legislation
amending the NRF’s regulatory framework, asserting the
action would ensure more transparency and accountability.
Guyana’s 2022 budget was the first to benefit from NRF
financing; according to the government, NRF financing
supported infrastructure investments, including in energy
and transportation, and social expenditures in health and
education. For Guyana’s 2025 budget, almost $2.5 billion is
