Panama
Last updated August 4, 2026
Composite GEFRI Score
Infrastructure is a strength, but Innovation lags
Panama demonstrates early-stage readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (46th percentile worldwide). Investments are generating initial gains, yet substantial gaps persist in several dimensions.
- Global percentile
- 46th
- Global rank
- #96
- Regional rank
- #15
- Viewing data for
Country profile
Panama remains in the emerging-readiness range, with progress visible but major gaps still limiting future readiness. Most dimension scores sit close to global norms, without a single dimension standing far above the rest.
Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned.
Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Regulatory quality falls short of global standards, signalling structural hurdles in policy execution. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.
School Access and Gender Parity presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, School Access and Gender Parity lags peers the most, signalling where investment could have the highest impact.
Most indicators are observed rather than imputed, so estimation uncertainty is limited.
Key insights
Places 96th worldwide.
Holds a regional position of 15th within Latin America & Caribbean.
Scores range from Infrastructure (81.6) to Innovation (40.6), reflecting variation across dimensions.
Trails regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.
Regional peers: Latin America & Caribbean
Composite GEFRI Score