The Panama Canal as an economic engine: how much it earns, how much it hands the State and what it depends on

How the Canal makes money

The Panama Canal Authority charges tolls to every ship that crosses the 80 kilometres between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The toll depends on the type of vessel, its size and its cargo: container ships pay per container, bulk carriers and tankers per ton, cruise ships per passenger. Added to that are services such as slot reservations, tugboats, pilotage and, since the expansion, the slot auction system in periods of high demand. In fiscal year 2025, which closed on 30 September, revenue reached 5.705 billion dollars, above the 5.623 billion budgeted, with an average of 33 deep-draft transits a day.

How much it hands the State and what it is used for

The Canal transfers three items to the State: the fee per net ton, the payment for public services and the economic surplus. In fiscal year 2025 they came to 2.965 billion dollars: 2.372 billion in surplus, 591 million in per-ton fees and 2 million in charges. That is about 500 million more than in 2024, when the contribution was 2.470 billion, weighed down by the transit restrictions of the drought.

The expansion and the neopanamax ships

The third set of locks, inaugurated in June 2016 after an investment of more than 5 billion dollars, allowed the passage of neopanamax ships of up to around 14,000 containers, against the 5,000 of the original panamax size. The expansion changed the make-up of the cargo: container ships and, above all, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas carriers from the US Gulf Coast to Asia became high-value segments. It also multiplied water consumption per transit, the origin of the problem that erupted in 2023.

The cluster that lives off the route

• Ports. Balboa and PSA on the Pacific; Cristóbal, Manzanillo and Colón Container Terminal on the Atlantic. Panama is Latin America’s largest container mover by transshipment.
• Interoceanic railway linking both oceans in an hour for freight and tourism.
• Colón Free Zone, the largest free trade zone in the hemisphere, though with re-exports down over the past year.
• Maritime services: ship registration (the world’s largest registry), insurance, bunkering, repairs, agencies and maritime lawyers.
• Banking and insurance that finance the cargo and trade passing through the isthmus.

That is why the National Institute of Statistics and Census attributes the largest sectoral growth of 2025, 14.5%, to transport, storage and communications, with toll revenue up 22%. The tax regimes that attract the companies of that cluster are compared in the guide to the Free Zone, Panamá Pacífico, SEM and EMMA.

Water: the drought and the Río Indio reservoir

Each transit through the original locks uses around 200 million litres of fresh water from Gatún Lake, which also supplies half of the country’s population. The drought of 2023 and 2024, aggravated by El Niño, forced daily transits down to 24 and limited draft, with lost revenue and ships diverted via Suez or the Cape of Good Hope. The ACP’s answer is the Río Indio reservoir, approved as a priority project, which would add storage capacity to guarantee water for the population and up to a dozen additional transits a day in dry years. Its construction, with the resettlement of communities, is the country’s largest infrastructure project of the coming decade.

Competition, geopolitics and other risks

1. Water. Without Río Indio, every dry year cuts transits and revenue again.
2. Alternative routes. The Tehuantepec isthmus rail corridor in Mexico, the US land bridges and, in the long run, the Arctic route compete for part of the cargo.
3. Geopolitics. The Canal’s neutrality, guaranteed by the 1977 Neutrality Treaty, and the pressure from the United States and China over the surrounding ports are a source of uncertainty the country manages through diplomacy.
4. World trade cycle. Tariffs, recessions and shifts in supply chains show up immediately in transits.
5. Fiscal dependence. The State counts on the Canal’s contributions to balance the budget; a prolonged fall affects the sovereign rating.

What it means for a company in Panama

For a company based in the country, the Canal is above all demand: transport, logistics, maintenance, technology, professional services and hospitality for the sector’s crews and executives. It is also access: maritime connectivity with more than 170 routes and 1,900 ports, and an air network that makes Panama the region’s natural meeting point. And it is fiscal stability: as long as the Canal contributes three points of GDP, the pressure to raise corporate taxes is lower than in any neighbouring country. Anyone wanting to set up can start with Radar Panamá’s guide to opening a company in Panama.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Aportes del Canal de Panamá al Tesoro Nacional, Panama Canal Authority.
• Panama Canal delivers direct contributions to the National Treasury, Panama Canal Authority.
• El Canal de Panamá entrega 2.965 millones en dividendos al Estado, La Prensa.
• El Producto Interno Bruto creció 4,4% en 2025, Comptroller General of the Republic / INEC.
• Ingresos que aporta el Canal al Estado panameño, Institute of National Studies, University of Panama.
• Image: two ships in the Miraflores locks, US Department of State, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.