Browse Data and Analysis

In marketing year (MY)2024/25, Guatemala is forecast to produce 2.4 million metric tons (MT) of sugar from a harvested area of 242,000 hectares (Ha). Though harvested area is increasing as positive sugar prices in the international market motivate producers to keep up renovation with improved local genetics, overall production is forecast to drop four percent for the estimated harvest of MY2023/24 (2.5 million MT), due to a late start to the rainy season and an extended El Niño year.

Guatemala continues to be a net importer of both yellow corn and rice. Corn area and production in MY2024/2025 are forecast to slightly increase to keep up with increased consumption for both food and feed; the avian sector keeps steady growth at 3-4 percent annually.

U.S. exports of agricultural products to Guatemala in 2022 increased 11.2 percent from 2021, reaching $1.8 billion. The Guatemalan economy relies on foreign exchange generated by international trade, remittances, and the tourism sector.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) has a regulation in place for the approval of biotech crops.

On July 14, 2023, Guatemala notified G/SPS/N/GTM/75, corresponding to the Regional Technical Regulation (RTCA) 67.04.79:23, providing specifications for yogurt.

This report contains the list of all the mandatory export certificates required by the Government of Guatemala for agricultural imports.

The HRI report provides U.S. agricultural exporters current information on market trends and the best product prospects for the Guatemalan market.

In 2022, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and independent food stores continued adding locations, but retail volume sales fell versus 2021.

Guatemala’s coffee planted area remains steady at 305,000 (hectares) Ha but may shrink slightly in the middle term as other more profitable crops are starting to substitute some coffee areas.

The 2022 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2022 calendar year.

In marketing year (MY)2023/2024, Guatemala is forecast to produce 2.6 million metric tons of sugar from sugarcane from a harvested area of 251,000 hectares.

Corn production in 2023/2024 is forecast to increase slightly, despite a reduction in planted area, as commercial farmers look positively at 2023 average record prices of $625/metric ton (MT) at the wholesale markets.