In Guyana, South America, big oil is living up to its name, and Guyana’s oil boom is holding true to its promise of life-changing wealth. Within just 5 years of First Oil, Guyana’s GDP Per capita has more than quadrupled, pushing Guyana from No. 102 all the way up to No. 42 on the rank of countries by GDP per capita.
The GDP per Capita of a country is the total Gross Domestic Product for a particular year divided by the total population. GDP per capita is a good indicator of how rich a country is because it shows theoretically how much revenue can be attributed to each citizen for a particular year.
Guyana exported its first batch of oil in December 2019 under the David Granger led coalition government. Oil production continued into 2020 throughout the 5 month election saga. However, all oil revenues were withheld by ExxonMobil in a US bank account until the country’s democratically elected government was sworn in on August 2, 2020. After the swearing in of President Ali, the oil revenues were released to the PPP/C government which had just taken office. Guyana earned US$3,057,571,695.52 in oil revenues between 2020 and the end of the last quarter of 2023.
By the end of 2023, Guyana earned more than 3 billion US dollars in oil revenues. That’s more than $600,000,000,000.00 Guyana dollars (six hundred billion Guyana dollars). To put that into perspective, that’s enough money to give 1 million Guyana dollar to 600,000 citizens and still have change.
This financial windfall from oil production, combined with Guyana’s preexisting revenues from gold, timber, bauxite, rice, etc, has driven the country’s GDP to unprecedented heights. Guyana’s GDP per capita is now on an upward trajectory.
Before oil production, in the year 2019, Guyana’s GDP per capital was just $5468.00 USD, ranking the country 102 out of a list of 191 countries (source). In 2024, Guyana’s GDP per capital grew to a staggering $26,592 US dollars, ranking the country No. 42 out of a list of 178 countries metered by the IMF (source).
Before oil production, Guyana ranked below countries such as Peru, Suriname, Jamaica, and Brazil in GDP per capita. Today, Guyana ranks above countries such as Greece, Barbados, Russia, and Poland in GDP per capita.
Further, Guyana’s oil revenues is expected to increase exponentially in the coming years. Projections are that around 2027 or 2028, Guyana will produce 1.2 million to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day with six Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels. Barring the unforeseen, and if Guyana continues on its current trajectory, it is expected to surpass the United States in GDP per capita by 2030.
It is glaringly obvious that Guyana is now a super rich country, but the manner in which the newfound wealth is utilized will determine the future of this great country and the quality of life it affords its citizens.
