An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team has underlined the importance of the updating of key statistics by the Government of Guyana.
In its concluding statement issued on Friday following its Article IV consultation here, the IMF said in a release that Staff welcomed the authorities’ continued efforts to strengthen official statistics to better reflect the economy’s transformation. These efforts, it said, include enhancing external and real sector statistics, including with technical assistance, as well as resuming regular labour force surveys and publishing preliminary census results.
“While progress continues in these areas, advancing work on updating national accounts, price, and external sector statistics remains a key priority. Together with maintaining regular updates to the labor force survey and the planned rollout of a new household budget survey, these efforts are important to strengthen the information base for policymaking and assess the impact of policies on economic growth and living standards”, the IMF team said.
The PPP/C government has been rapped for the sloth on delivering comprehensive results from the census.
Preliminary results on the 2022 Population and Housing Census were only released in January of this year.
On climate and energy, the IMF team said that Guyana remains at the forefront of market-based forest conservation while advancing its transition to a cleaner and more cost-effective energy mix.
“Staff welcomes the authorities’ strong commitment to strengthening resilience to climate-related risks and protecting biodiversity. Efforts to bolster resilience to natural disasters are advancing through investments in sea defenses and drainage infrastructure alongside investments in more climate resilient agriculture”, the report said.
The Gas-to-Energy project it added is expected to significantly reduce reliance on fuel-based power generation by 2027, with limited use subsequently as demand expands, lowering energy costs and supporting long-term competitiveness.
The IMF team said that efforts to strengthen human capital, expand job opportunities, and enhance food security remain central to the authorities’ broader diversification strategy.
“The Local Content framework continues to support private sector development, while higher personal income tax thresholds are helping to encourage labor force participation. Reforms to address labor shortages should continue, including to strengthen skills and better align the workforce with the needs of a rapidly expanding economy. Ongoing initiatives to boost agricultural production and reduce regional food import dependence will support export diversification and enhance food security”, the Concluding Statement said.
Following a virtual and in person visit between July 20 and July 31, the IMF team said that the economy here continues to grow at a very rapid pace, supported by robust oil and non-oil activity.
“Real GDP grew by over 19 percent in 2025, following average growth of nearly 40 percent during 2023–24. Oil production exceeded expectations and surpassed 900,000 barrels per day by the end of 2025—an impressive 35 percent increase over one year, with similar volumes recorded in the first half of 2026. Encouragingly, broad-based growth in the non-oil economy continued at about 14 percent, with construction remaining the largest driver, and agriculture, mining, and manufacturing also contributing meaningfully”, the statement said.
It said that the robust growth was also reflected in a stronger labour market, with unemployment down at 6.2 percent by the end of last year Average inflation was kept to 3.3 percent in 2025 but edged up by mid-2026, reflecting higher global energy and food prices.
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