Panama: People & Society#
| Population | 3,705,246 (July 2016 est.) |
|---|---|
| Nationality | noun: Panamanian(s) adjective: Panamanian |
| Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Native American 12.3% (Ngabe 7.6%, Kuna 2.4%, Embera 0.9%, Bugle 0.8%, other 0.4%, unspecified 0.2%), black or African descent 9.2%, mulatto 6.8%, white 6.7% (2010 est.) |
| Languages | Spanish (official), indigenous languages (including Ngabere (or Guaymi), Buglere, Kuna, Embera, Wounaan, Naso (or Teribe), and Bri Bri), Panamanian English Creole (similar to Jamaican English Creole; a mixture of English and Spanish with elements of Ngabere; also known as Guari Guari and Colon Creole), English, Chinese (Yue and Hakka), Arabic, French Creole, other (Yiddish, Hebrew, Korean, Japanese) note: many Panamanians are bilingual |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 15% |
| Demographic profile | Panama is a country of demographic and economic contrasts. It is in the midst of a demographic transition, characterized by steadily declining rates of fertility, mortality, and population growth, but disparities persist based on wealth, geography, and ethnicity. Panama has one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America and dedicates substantial funding to social programs, yet poverty and inequality remain prevalent. The indigenous population accounts for a growing share of Panama's poor and extreme poor, while the non-indigenous rural poor have been more successful at rising out of poverty through rural-to-urban labor migration. The government's large expenditures on untargeted, indirect subsidies for water, electricity, and fuel have been ineffective, but its conditional cash transfer program has shown some promise in helping to decrease extreme poverty among the indigenous population. Panama has expanded access to education and clean water, but the availability of sanitation and, to a lesser extent, electricity remains poor. The increase in secondary schooling - led by female enrollment - is spreading to rural and indigenous areas, which probably will help to alleviate poverty if educational quality and the availability of skilled jobs improve. Inadequate access to sanitation contributes to a high incidence of diarrhea in Panama's children, which is one of the main causes of Panama's elevated chronic malnutrition rate, especially among indigenous communities. |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 26.7% (male 504,990/female 484,338) 15-24 years: 17.11% (male 323,034/female 311,099) 25-54 years: 40.31% (male 756,400/female 737,205) 55-64 years: 7.72% (male 141,582/female 144,414) 65 years and over: 8.16% (male 138,922/female 163,262) (2016 est.) |
| Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 53.4% youth dependency ratio: 41.7% elderly dependency ratio: 11.7% potential support ratio: 8.5% (2015 est.) |
| Median age | total: 28.9 years male: 28.5 years female: 29.3 years (2016 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.3% (2016 est.) |
| Birth rate | 18.1 births/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Death rate | 4.9 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Net migration rate | -0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Population distribution | population is concentrated towards the center of the country, particularly around the Canal, but a sizeable segment of the populace also lives in the far west around David; the eastern third of the country is sparsely inhabited |
| Urbanization | urban population: 66.6% of total population (2015) rate of urbanization: 2.07% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) |
| Major urban areas - population | PANAMA CITY (capital) 1.673 million (2015) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2016 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate | 94 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 10.1 deaths/1,000 live births male: 10.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78.6 years male: 75.8 years female: 81.6 years (2016 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 2.33 children born/woman (2016 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 52.2% (2009) |
| Health expenditures | 8% of GDP (2014) |
| Physicians density | 1.65 physicians/1,000 population (2013) |
| Hospital bed density | 2.2 beds/1,000 population (2011) |
| Drinking water source | improved: urban: 97.7% of population rural: 86.6% of population total: 94.7% of population unimproved: urban: 2.3% of population rural: 11.4% of population total: 5.3% of population (2015 est.) |
| Sanitation facility access | improved: urban: 83.5% of population rural: 58% of population total: 75% of population unimproved: urban: 16.5% of population rural: 42% of population total: 25% of population (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 0.69% (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | 17,100 (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 500 (2015 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases | degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea vectorborne diseases: dengue fever note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016) |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 26.5% (2014) |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 3.9% (2008) |
| Education expenditures | 3.3% of GDP (2011) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 95% male: 95.7% female: 94.4% (2015 est.) |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) | total: 13 years male: 12 years female: 13 years (2013) |
| Child labor - children ages 5-14 | total number: 59,294 percentage: 7% note: data represent children ages 5-17 (2010 est.) |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 12.6% male: 11.2% female: 14.9% (2014 est.) |