The economy is Guatemala is relatively good as is has the largest economy within Central America. However, the nation has an estimated poverty rate of 55.2% in 2023 according to the world bank. Guatemala has had stable growth of its economy between the years 2010-2019 with an average of about 3.5% each year. However, this economic growth has not improved the situation with the poverty in the nation. There are issues with access to things like education and a low employment rate which holds the country back. Even with a median population age of 22 there are not enough people working to push the nation out of poverty. This is also the reason that the human capital index for Guatemala is low, this is determined by factors such as health, education, and income levels and is a measure for the productivity of future generations of workers.
Guatemala has diplomatic relations with the US, the policy objectives that the US has in place for Guatemala include engagement with the government to help prevent corruption, migration, combating criminal organizations, and improving the economic security and equality of Guatemala. I think that the prevention of corruption would be interesting to look into right now. Since the nation is currently facing corruption within the government with the current elections which was discussed in the previous blog post.
Sources:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/guatemala/overview
