| Economy - overview | Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America, suffers from extraordinarily unequal distribution of income, as well as high underemployment. While historically dependent on the export of bananas and coffee, Honduras has diversified its export base to include apparel and automobile wire harnessing. Honduras’s economy depends heavily on US trade and remittances. The US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement came into force in 2006 and has helped foster foreign direct investment, but physical and political insecurity, as well as crime and perceptions of corruption, may deter potential investors; about 15% of foreign direct investment is from US firms. The economy registered modest economic growth of 3.1%-4.0% from 2010 to 2017, insufficient to improve living standards for the nearly 65% of the population in poverty. In 2017, Honduras faced rising public debt, but its economy has performed better than expected due to low oil prices and improved investor confidence. Honduras signed a three-year standby arrangement with the IMF in December 2014, aimed at easing Honduras’s poor fiscal position. |
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | $55.825 billion (2019 est.) $54.382 billion (2018 est.) $52.444 billion (2017 est.) note: data are in 2017 dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate) | $25.145 billion (2019 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4.8% (2017 est.) 3.8% (2016 est.) 3.8% (2015 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | $5,728 (2019 est.) $5,672 (2018 est.) $5,562 (2017 est.) note: data are in 2017 dollars |
| Gross national saving | 22% of GDP (2019 est.) 20.5% of GDP (2018 est.) 23.6% of GDP (2017 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by end use | household consumption: 77.7% (2017 est.) government consumption: 13.8% (2017 est.) investment in fixed capital: 23.1% (2017 est.) investment in inventories: 0.7% (2017 est.) exports of goods and services: 43.6% (2017 est.) imports of goods and services: -58.9% (2017 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 14.2% (2017 est.) industry: 28.8% (2017 est.) services: 57% (2017 est.) |
| Ease of Doing Business Index scores | Overall score: 56.3 (2020) Starting a Business score: 71.4 (2020) Trading score: 64.3 (2020) Enforcement score: 44.2 (2020) |
| Population below poverty line | 48.3% (2018 est.) |
| Labor force | 3.735 million (2017 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 39.2% industry: 20.9% services: 39.8% (2005 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 5.6% (2017 est.) 6.3% (2016 est.) note: about one-third of the people are underemployed |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 10.9% male: 7.6% female: 17.6% (2019 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.2% highest 10%: 38.4% (2014) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index | 52.1 (2018 est.) 45.7 (2009) |
| Budget | revenues: 4.658 billion (2017 est.) expenditures: 5.283 billion (2017 est.) |
| Taxes and other revenues | 20.3% (of GDP) (2017 est.) |
| Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | -2.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.) |
| Public debt | 39.5% of GDP (2017 est.) 38.5% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.3% (2019 est.) 4.3% (2018 est.) 3.9% (2017 est.) |
| Credit ratings | Moody's rating: B1 (2017) Standard & Poors rating: BB- (2017) |
| Agriculture - products | sugar cane, oil palm fruit, milk, bananas, maize, coffee, melons, oranges, poultry, beans |
| Industries | sugar processing, coffee, woven and knit apparel, wood products, cigars |
| Industrial production growth rate | 4.5% (2017 est.) |
| Current Account Balance | -$380 million (2017 est.) -$587 million (2016 est.) |
| Exports | $8.675 billion (2017 est.) $7.841 billion (2016 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | clothing and apparel, coffee, insulated wiring, bananas, palm oil (2019) |
| Exports - partners | United States 53%, El Salvador 8%, Guatemala 5%, Nicaragua 5% (2019) |
| Imports | $11.32 billion (2017 est.) $10.56 billion (2016 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | refined petroleum, clothing and apparel, packaged medicines, broadcasting equipment, insulated wiring (2019) |
| Imports - partners | United States 42%, China 10%, Guatemala 8%, El Salvador 8%, Mexico 6% (2019) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $4.708 billion (31 December 2017 est.) $3.814 billion (31 December 2016 est.) |
| Debt - external | $9.137 billion (2019 est.) $8.722 billion (2018 est.) |
| Exchange rates | lempiras (HNL) per US dollar - 23.74 (2017 est.) 22.995 (2016 est.) 22.995 (2015 est.) 22.098 (2014 est.) 21.137 (2013 est.) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
