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Guyana, Brazil's neighboring country, surprises the world with a GDP of US$16,7 billion and holds the title of the fastest growing economy in South America. Find out why!
Guyana, Brazil's neighboring country with a GDP of US$16,7 billion – Fastest growing country in South America, is in the global spotlight as it embarks on a dramatic economic transformation. What was once a predominantly agricultural and mining-driven economy is now the fastest-growing economy in South America and the world. Fueled by the discovery of vast offshore oil reserves, Guyana has attracted massive international investment, reshaping its economic landscape. In this article, we explore how the country is consolidating this impressive growth, the strategic sectors that are expanding, and the critical challenges that accompany this rapid development.
Challenges faced by Brazil's neighboring country
With a population of just 813, Guyana has seen a surprising rise in its GDP of US$16,7 billion, with growth rates reaching 63,4% per year in 2022 and 33% in 2023. As such, Brazil's neighboring country quickly went from being one of the poorest on the continent to now having the second highest GDP per capita in South America, with US$20 per inhabitant and behind only Uruguay.
However, despite having the fastest growing economy in the world, Guyana faces considerable challenges, especially high social inequality, with 48,8% of the population living in poverty, and tension with Venezuela, which has been claiming the Essequibo territory since December 2023, something that could take away 70% of Guyana's territory.
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It is important to note that before becoming the fastest growing country in South America, Guyana had a primary and underdeveloped economy, even by South American standards. This is mainly reflected in its economic dependence on traditional sectors such as agriculture and mining.
Understand how Guyana is the fastest growing economy in the world
Between 2015 to 2020, according to World Bank data, Brazil's neighboring country showed the biggest jump in GDP ever seen among South American countries, going from economic growth of just 0,7% per year to an impressive 63,4% per year, making it by far the fastest growing economy in the world.
In this sense, the origin of the GDP of US$ 16,7 billion and economic growth that has lasted 9 years in Guyana is the result of the discovery of vast oil reserves in its maritime territory in 2015, when the oil giant Exxon Mobil, in partnership with other associated companies responsible for production in the country, discovered oil reserves in the Stabroek block, located off the coast of Guyana.
After that, other discoveries in the region ended up revealing to the world the energy potential of the fastest growing country in Latin America, given that the country is home to surprising oil reserves totaling around 11 billion barrels. To give you an idea, this amount represents around 75% of Brazil's reserves of this resource.
Fastest growing country in South America to receive billion-dollar investment
Despite these discoveries, Brazil's neighboring country, which has the fastest growing economy in the world, has placed itself in the Global Oil Market in 2019 Only, since the country did not have the oil infrastructure necessary to extract resources from the ocean floor. Consequently, this need ended up requiring massive investments in the fastest growing country in South America, which came mainly from the private sector.
With the consortium of companies led by Exxon Mobil investing in local infrastructure, in addition to successive research and analysis projects on the conditions of Guyana's oil, recently this year the company announced that it will invest more than 12 billion dollars in the country's oil infrastructure with the aim of expanding production in the project called Whiptail.
This project is expected to add 250 barrels of daily capacity by the end of 2027, bringing the country's production capacity to approximately 1,3 million barrels per day, something that would make Brazil's neighboring country one of the 15 largest oil producers in the world and maintaining and expanding its GDP of US$ 16,7 billion.
