Guyana posted a trade surplus of US$3.01 billion in the first quarter of 2025, driven by crude oil exports, which continued to dominate the country’s external trade, according to Bank of Guyana data.
Exports totaled US$4.66 billion, of which US$4.24 billion, or 91% of domestic exports, came from crude oil. Imports amounted to US$1.65 billion, up from US$1.54 billion a year earlier, while total exports dipped slightly from US$4.91 billion in the same period of 2024. The trade surplus fell from US$3.37 billion in the first quarter of last year.
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Crude oil production rose 1.8% year-on-year to 56.8 million barrels, with output boosted by the Prosperity floating production vessel, which recorded an 11.5% increase over the first quarter of 2024, the Bank said. The Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSOs saw declines in output of 8.5% and 0.1%, respectively.
All production is managed by a consortium comprising ExxonMobil, Chevron and CNOOC, operating offshore in the Stabroek Block. Output currently comes from three projects, with a fourth expected to start next month. Production capacity, currently near 700,000 barrels per day (b/d), is set to increase to more than 900,000 b/d when Yellowtail comes online next month and ramps up.
Beyond oil, gold was the second-largest export at US$265 million, followed by rice (US$49 million), bauxite (US$33.4 million), and smaller contributions from shrimp, rum, timber, sugar, and other goods.
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Oil continues to make a mammoth contribution to Guyana’s economy, as production has grown annually at a pace that the non-oil economy cannot match. However, due to a world-leading 13.8% expected growth in the non-oil economy, 2025 is set to be the first year that non-oil growth outpaces oil’s growth (projected at 9.5%) since Exxon started pumping oil five years ago.
Efforts to use oil’s momentum to boost non-oil growth, such as local content legislation and investments in key sectors like agriculture, have resulted in double-digit expansion in the past few years.
