A national study on living conditions and well-being has revealed that the labor informality rate in the country reaches 47%, while in the most vulnerable population segments it exceeds 70%, limiting access to social security and increasing economic precariousness.
Nevertheless, it shows advances in the country's social and economic development, highlighting the sustained reduction in income poverty, which fell from 42% in 1991 to 21.7% in 2023.
In terms of education, it showed a coverage reaching 78% of the population aged 4 to 24, with greater female participation (80%), showing that women have positioned themselves as the majority in scientific, technical, and professional careers, reflecting an important progress in human capital, although leadership gaps persist.
Although the population is gradually aging, it was found that older adults show high levels of autonomy; 50% maintain frequent social ties.
Despite persistent territorial and socio-economic gaps, 7 out of 10 Panamanians express satisfaction with their community, and 56% perceive that their life situation is better than that of their parents, which reflects a general feeling of progress and social mobility.
In other words, real well-being depends on access to essential assets such as decent housing, continuous basic services, food security, education, formal employment, health, social protection, support networks, and civic participation.
It also exposes that the sustained economic growth of recent decades in Panama has not translated into social or territorial equity.
This situation has created a structure of accumulated inequality that limits development opportunities for large sectors of the population.
The research conducted between January and July 2024 on 5,261 households with urban, rural, and indigenous coverage is based on a key premise: well-being is not reduced to having money, but to possessing the assets that allow living with dignity and projecting a stable future.
Another finding was that 58% of the population perceives their medical state as good or very good, and 76% of those who reported some problem sought care.
At the digital level, a relevant advance is evident: 70% of Panamanians aged 10 or older have access to digital devices, which strengthens educational, labor, and information opportunities.
The report, prepared by the Social Energy Generation Plant Foundation (PGES), with the support of other public and private institutions, constitutes one of the most complete X-rays of well-being in Panama, analyzing territorial, gender, ethnic, social stratification, and life cycle approaches.
