The production of alcoholic beverages in Panama continues to increase, according to the figures of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR), shared by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Inec), at the beginning of this month.

2022 ended with 273,731,253 liters (L) produced, a figure that exceeds the 272,101,463 L registered in 2021, and

When analyzing the production of liquors per month, the data from the CGR reveal that the development of alcoholic beverages registered a considerable decrease during July 2022, a date that coincides with the citizen protests over the high cost of living, which took place in the country.

To be exact, this industry went from manufacturing 24,277 L in June, to 18,109 L in July, and did not recover its production pace until October, when 24,892 L were made, a trend very different from that recorded in 2021, the year in which the sector did not experience an upward trend in its production, continuously.

The most developed drink is still beer, which experienced an This means that 255,656,640 L were produced in 2022.

Although these numbers show an improvement, they are still very far from the 296,167,262 L obtained in 2017, or the 289,134,231 L generated in 2018. However, the data for 2022 are much better than those collected in 2020, a time when production decreased considerably (189,588,178 L), as a result of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other products that experienced an increase in their production during 2022 are: rum (increase of 0.3%), cognac (increase of 10.5%), whiskey (increase of 10.2%) and wine (increase of 0.2%). While vodka and dry produced decreased their production.

In the case of vodka, Panama went from producing 154,993 L in 2021, to 135,681 L in 2022, representing a decrease of 12.5%. While the dry went from 5,372,664 L in 2021, to 5,036,153 L, in 2022, which translates into a reduction of 6.3%.

As for the similarities from one year to the next, we have that the months of highest production continue to be October, September and December, when the sector recovered from the low manufacturing recorded in November.