| GDP, $B | Per person, $ | Per person, PPP $ | Growth 2025 | Growth 2026f | Inflation 2025 | Jobless 2025 | Debt, % GDP | People, M | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | $129 | $40,620 | $52,189 | 0.3% | −0.1% | 1.5% | 5.6% | 18% | 3.2 |
| Chile | $357 | $17,837 | $35,791 | 2.5% | 0.6% | 4.2% | 8.5% | 42% | 20.0 |
| Argentina | $684 | $14,399 | $31,497 | 4.5% | 2.1% | 41.9% | 7.4% | 80% | 47.5 |
| Mexico | $1,835 | $13,759 | $25,684 | 0.5% | 1.5% | 3.8% | 2.6% | 62% | 133.4 |
| Brazil | $2,280 | $10,683 | $23,363 | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5.0% | 6.0% | 93% | 213.4 |
| Colombia | $457 | $8,617 | $22,516 | 2.6% | 2.2% | 5.1% | 8.0% | 60% | 53.0 |
| Peru | $342 | $9,938 | $19,199 | 3.4% | 3.0% | 1.5% | 5.9% | 30% | 34.4 |
| Uruguay | $86 | $24,549 | $37,197 | 1.8% | 1.3% | 4.7% | 7.5% | 66% | 3.5 |
| Panama | $90 | $19,814 | $43,951 | 4.4% | 5.0% | −0.1% | 10.4% | 57% | 4.6 |
| Costa Rica | $103 | $19,162 | $32,320 | 4.6% | 3.3% | −0.1% | 6.3% | 60% | 5.4 |
| Dominican Republic | $128 | $11,749 | $30,393 | 2.1% | 4.6% | 3.9% | 5.3% | 59% | 10.9 |
| El Salvador | $37 | $5,751 | $14,061 | 3.9% | 4.5% | 0.3% | 4.2% | 88% | 6.4 |
| United States | $30,861 | $90,267 | $90,267 | 2.3% | 2.3% | 2.7% | 4.3% | 124% | 341.9 |
IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2026. All values in U.S. dollars at market exchange rates except PPP, which adjusts for local prices. 2025 is the latest year; f = IMF forecast. Debt is general government gross debt.
How the Comparison Works
Every figure comes from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, which converts each country’s GDP into U.S. dollars at the average market exchange rate for the year. Puerto Rico needs no conversion: its economy runs on dollars. That matters more than it looks. The IMF expects Colombia’s GDP to rise from $457 billion to $573 billion in dollars this year, a 25% jump, while its real economy grows only about 2.2%. Most of the difference is a stronger peso and local inflation. Dollar figures for the rest of the region swing with their currencies; Puerto Rico’s do not.
The second measure, purchasing-power parity (PPP), corrects for the fact that a dollar buys more in Lima or Bogotá than in San Juan. It is the better guide to living standards; market dollars are the better guide to what an economy is worth to a foreign investor.
Size: About the Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico’s GDP was $129 billion in 2025. That is a fraction of Brazil ($2.28 trillion) and Mexico ($1.84 trillion), about a third of Chile ($357 billion) or Peru ($342 billion), and almost exactly the size of the Dominican Republic ($128 billion). On the IMF’s forecasts the Dominican Republic overtakes it this year, at $145 billion against $133 billion.
GDP per Person, 2025
The solid bar is GDP per person in U.S. dollars at market exchange rates; the pale bar is the purchasing-power figure, which allows for lower local prices. Puerto Rico in copper.
IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
Income: Well Ahead, with a Caveat
At $40,620 of GDP per person, Puerto Rico is far ahead of every country here: 1.7 times Uruguay, 2.3 times Chile, 3.8 times Brazil and 4.7 times Colombia. It is still under half the U.S. figure of $90,267.
Two things narrow the gap. First, part of Puerto Rico’s GDP is the profit of multinational drug and medical-device makers that is booked on the island and paid out abroad. Real GNP, which leaves that out, was about 67% of real GDP in fiscal 2025. Applied to the dollar figure, that suggests roughly $27,000 per person, still the highest in the group but much closer to Uruguay’s $24,549. Second, prices are higher in Puerto Rico. On a purchasing-power basis it is about $52,000 per person against $36,000 for Chile and $44,000 for Panama, so the lead shrinks from 2.3 times Chile to about 1.5 times.
GDP per Person, 2015 to 2027
U.S. dollars at market rates. 2026 and 2027 are IMF forecasts.
IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
Real Growth Since 2019
Total growth in inflation-adjusted GDP from 2019 to 2026, using the IMF’s 2026 forecast.
IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
Growth: The Weakest in the Group
From 2019 to 2026, including the IMF’s forecast for this year, Puerto Rico’s real GDP grows about 3% in total. Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic grow more than 25%, Colombia 18%, Brazil 16%, and Chile and Peru 14%. Even Mexico (7%) and Argentina (9%), both weak, do better. The IMF puts Puerto Rico’s growth at −0.1% for 2026 and 1.0% for 2027.
Part of the gap is people. Puerto Rico’s population fell about 10% between 2015 and 2025, to 3.2 million, while Colombia’s and Peru’s grew about 15%. Output per person has held up better than the headline: dollar GDP per person rose about 39% from 2015 to 2025, more than Chile (32%), the same as Mexico, and less than Uruguay (46%).
El Salvador: A Pickup from a Low Base
El Salvador is the closest parallel to Puerto Rico in one respect: it has used the U.S. dollar since 2001. Its economy has picked up under President Nayib Bukele. Growth averaged about 2.4% a year in the five years before the pandemic; it was 3.9% in 2025, and the IMF expects 4.5% in 2026, the third-fastest in this table after Panama and the Dominican Republic. The IMF credits stronger consumption and investment, strong remittances, tourism and construction, and a much better security picture after the government’s crackdown on gangs, which human-rights groups have criticized for mass detentions under a state of exception.
From 2022 to 2026 its real GDP grows about 18%, ahead of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. But it starts from far behind: GDP per person is about $5,750, the lowest here and one-seventh of Puerto Rico’s, and government debt is high at about 88% of GDP. It is in a 40-month, $1.4 billion IMF program agreed in late 2024, which led it to make bitcoin acceptance voluntary in January 2025. Unemployment of about 4.2% and inflation of 0.3% in 2025 show what the dollar brings; the debt and the low income level show what it does not.
Inflation and Money: The Dollar’s Advantage
Because it uses the dollar and the Federal Reserve sets its interest rates, Puerto Rico imports U.S. inflation. Prices rose 1.5% in 2025, against 3.8% in Mexico, 4.2% in Chile, 5.0% in Brazil and 5.1% in Colombia. Argentina has brought inflation down from 220% in 2024 to 42% in 2025, and the IMF expects 32.5% this year. Peru matched Puerto Rico at 1.5%. The trade-off is that Puerto Rico has no exchange rate or central bank of its own to cushion a downturn.
Jobs and Debt
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate of about 5.6% in 2025 is lower than Chile (8.5%), Colombia (8.0%) and Argentina (7.4%), and close to Brazil (6.0%) and Peru (5.9%). Mexico reports 2.6%, partly because many workers are in informal jobs. Puerto Rico’s weakness is participation: only about 45% of adults work or look for work, so the jobless rate flatters it.
On debt, the IMF puts Puerto Rico’s government at 18% of GDP, the lowest here, against 93% for Brazil, 80% for Argentina, 62% for Mexico and 60% for Colombia. That low figure reflects the 2022 restructuring under PROMESA, which cut the central government’s bonded debt sharply. It does not include the power utility PREPA, whose debt is still being restructured, or unfunded pension promises, and the island’s budget remains under a federal oversight board.
Takeaway. Puerto Rico is richer and more stable than any economy in Latin America, measured in dollars, but it barely grows and its population is shrinking. Its neighbors offer growth and higher interest rates, with currency risk attached; Puerto Rico offers the dollar and slow growth.
Figures are from the IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2026, pulled on October 22, 2026; 2026 and 2027 are IMF forecasts. For education only, not investment advice.