Economy — Honduras
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Economy at a glance
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency. Key figure for Honduras: Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America, suffers from extraordinarily unequal distribution of income, as well as high underemployment. While historically dependent on the export of bananas and coffee, Honduras has diversified its export base to include apparel and automobile wire harnessing. Hondur…
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Economic overview
- Economic Overview
Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America, suffers from extraordinarily unequal distribution of income, as well as high underemployment.
While historically dependent on the export of bananas and coffee, Honduras has diversified its export base to include apparel and automobile wire harnessing.
Honduras’s economy depends heavily on US trade and remittances.
The US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement came into force in 2006 and has helped foster foreign direct investment, but physical and political insecurity, as well as crime and perceptions of corruption, may deter potential investors; about 15% of foreign direct investment is from US firms.
The economy registered modest economic growth of 3.1%-4.0% from 2010 to 2017, insufficient to improve living standards for the nearly 65% of the population in poverty.
In 2017, Honduras faced rising public debt, but its economy has performed better than expected due to low oil prices and improved investor confidence.
Honduras signed a three-year standby arrangement with the IMF in December 2014, aimed at easing Honduras’s poor fiscal position.
- Industries
Sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products
- GDP - per capita (PPP)
$5,000.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
3.5%
GDP & growth
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product (PPP)
$50,890,000,000 (USD)
- GDP Per Capita
$5,000.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
3.5%
- GDP - official exchange rate
$19,940,000,000 (USD)
- GDP - composition, by end use
- Household consumption: 81.6%
- Government consumption: 15.7%
- Investment in fixed capital: 23.5%
- Investment in inventories: -0.2%
- Exports of goods and services: 44.4%
- Imports of goods and services: -65%
- GDP by Sector- agriculture
13.9%
- GDP by Sector- Industry
26.4%
- GDP by Sector- services
59.7%
- Industrial Growth Rate
2.4%
Prices & money
- Inflation Rate
4.6%
- Exchange Rate per US Dollar
Lempira (HNL)
- Currency Name and Code
Lempira (HNL)
- Fiscal Year
Calendar year
- Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
17.8%
Employment & labor
- Labor Force
3,394,000
- Unemployment Rate
5.1%
- Unemployment - note
About one-third of the people are underemployed
- Major Industries
Sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products
- Agriculture Products
- Bananas, coffee, citrus
- beef
- timber
- shrimp
- Population Below Poverty Line
65%
- Child Labor - # of children ages 5-14
280,809
- Child Labor - % of children ages 5-14
16%
Public finance
- Annual Budget
$2,923,000,000 (USD)
- Public Debt (% of GDP)
70.5%
- Budget Surplus or Deficit - percent of GDP
-6.2%
- Taxes and other revenues - percent of GDP
16.5%