North America
To which language should you translate to localize in Guatemala?
What the 150 top websites do
Of the top 150 website (Global by design ranking):
- 46/150 translate into Spanish.
- 14/150 translate into English.
- 1/150 translates into Guatemalan Sign Language.
If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data
Overview
Language
Official language
Spanish 93%
Although Spanish is the official language, it is not spoken by the entire population, or else is used as a second language. There are twenty-four distinct indigenous languages spoken in Guatemala.
T-index
0.12%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
English
Moderate proficiency (EF) – 58 of 111 countries/regions in the world- 13/20 position in Latin America.
Demography
Capital: Guatemala City
Currency: Guatemalan quetzal
Population: 17.35 m
Population density: 160/km2
Economy
GDP: 95 billion USD (2022)
GDP per capita: 5,473.2 USD ‎(2022) ‎
Exports: $14.2 billion (2021)
Statistics
Internet users: 60.4% penetration, 10.86 million
Unemployment rate: 3% (2022)
Urbanisation: 53% (2022)
Literacy: 83% (2021)
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numerals with comma as decimal separator
Date format: dd – mm – yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00502
Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal
Facts and data
Economy
Imports
$25.2 billion (2021). Refined Petroleum ($2.97B), Broadcasting Equipment ($704M), Cars ($618M), Packaged Medicaments ($574M), and Delivery Trucks ($555M), importing mostly from United States ($8.18B), China ($4.24B), Mexico ($2.35B), El Salvador ($1.16B), and Costa Rica ($727M).
Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)
• 43.5% have an account with a financial institution
• 6.6% have a credit card
• 2.1% have a mobile money account
Ease of doing business
Ease of conducting business is medium (rated 62.6 out of 100). Ranked 10th out of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Ranked 96th out of 190 countries worldwide (2022, World Bank).
Exports
$14.2 billion (2021). The top exports of Guatemala are Bananas ($1.01B), Coffee ($956M), Palm Oil ($715M), Nutmeg, mace and cardamons ($615M), and Raw Sugar ($520M), exporting mostly to United States ($4.47B), El Salvador ($1.73B), Honduras ($1.37B), Nicaragua ($841M), and Mexico ($584M).
In 2021, Guatemala was the world’s biggest exporter of Nutmeg, mace and cardamons ($615M).
Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 62.7 out of 100). Ranked 13th out of 32 Latin American countries. Ranked 64th out of 176 countries worldwide (2022, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).
Global Innovation Index
Ranked 17th out of 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries, and 110th out of 132 worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal
Service Imports (2019)
Service Exports (2019)
Source: OEC
Historical Data Trade Imports
The following section uses historical trade data imports from partners of Guatemala.
Historical Data Trade Exports
The following section uses historical trade data exports from partners of Guatemala.
Source: OEC
The Top Export Opportunities for Guatemala by Relatedness
Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product by showing only products that Guatemala is not specialized in.
Guatemala's Most Complex Exports
The Product Complexity Index (PCI) measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.
Source: OEC
Guatemala's Most Specialized Products
Specialization is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), an index that takes the ratio between Guatemala observed and expected exports in each product.
Source: OEC
Market Growth Imports (2019)
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start importing that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Market Growth Exports (2019)
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start exporting that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Source: OEC
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language Spanish, English.
Information channels
Guatemala is one of the Western Hemisphere’s most dangerous countries for the media, says Reporters Without Borders. The watchdog says exposing corruption among politicians and officials can lead to threats and violence. Private operators dominate the media. Four national TV channels share the same owner and have a virtual monopoly in TV broadcasting. They have been criticised for being pro-government. Press ownership is also concentrated, says Freedom House.
The press
Prensa Libre – private daily
La Hora – private daily
elPeriodico – private daily
El Siglo – private, business daily
Television
Canal 3 – commercial
Teleonce (Canal 11) – commercial
Televisiete (Canal 7) Televisiete (Canal 7) – commercial
Trecevision (Canal 13) – commercial
Radio
Emisoras Unidas – commercial
Radio Cultural TGN – private, religious/cultural, in Spanish, English and indigenous languages
Radio Sonora – news and talk
Nuevo Mundo Radio – commercial
Media data source: BBC
Internet Data
Internet users
60.4% penetration, 10.86 million
Share of web traffic by device
64.94% mobile phones, 33.76% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.27% tablet devices and 0.02% other devices.
Median speed of mobile Internet connection
25.54 Mbps
Median speed of fixed Internet connection
27.02 Mbps
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 125.1%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 88.7%
Most popular web search engines
Google (97.05%), Bing (2.34%), Petal Search (0.22%), Yahoo! (0.19%), DuckduckGo (0.1%), other (0.1%).
Most used social media
Facebook (79.42%), Instagram (8.74%), Pinterest (6.45%), YouTube (2.58%), Twitter (2.5%), Reddit (0.14%), Tumblr (0.11%), other (0.07%).
Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter
Social statistics
Life expectancy
69 yrs (2021)
Corruption perceptions Index
Guatemala scored 24 out of 100, ranked 150 out of 180 countries worldwide.
Current health expenditure
6.47% of GDP
CO2 emissions
1 metric ton per capita
World Happiness Index
Guatemala ranked 39 out of 146 countries, with a score of 6.262.
Current education expenditure
96.5% of total expenditure in public institutions.
Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF
Tertiary education in Guatemala
Tertiary education in Guatemala, by sex
Source: UNESCO
The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com
Languages research
Languages spoken in Guatemala
Legend
-
Itza’
-
Mopan
-
Q’eqchi’
-
Garifuna
-
Achi
-
Ch’orti’
-
Kaqchikel
-
Poqomam
-
Xinka
-
Saltapultek
-
Tz’utujil
-
K’iche
-
Tekiteko
-
Mam
-
Sipakapense
-
Awakatek
-
Ixil
-
Papti
-
Chuj
-
Q’anjob’al
-
Uspantek
-
Spanish
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
Photo credit: Diego Grandi, iStock