Panama Canal toll revenues increased 2.7%
Revenues from tolls from the Panama Canal for fiscal year 2020 (concluded in September) reached 2,663 million dollars, an increase of 2.7% year-on-year, according to data from the Panama Canal Authority (PCA).
As of September 30, 2020, the Canal’s total workforce (which includes temporary and permanent employees) was 9,510.
Of the 2020 total workforce, 8,345 were men (88%) and 1,165 were women (12 percent).
In general, the Canal plays an important role in the Panamanian economy.
In the PCA’s fiscal year 2020, Canal transits decreased to 13,369, from 13,785 in fiscal year 2019, while cargo tonnage increased to 255.8 million long tons, from 253.0 million long tons in fiscal year 2019. .
Panama Canal
After Panama’s declaration of independence from Colombia, Panama ratified the Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty with the United States on December 2, 1903.
Under the terms of the treaty, Panama ceded the Canal Zone, a 10-mile wide strip of Panama territory, to the United States to build, operate, maintain, and protect an interoceanic canal through the isthmus, in exchange for annual payments.
Panama Canal Principal Statistics
The Canal is approximately 50 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The former Canal Zone covered an area of 94,385 hectares (364 square miles) and a water surface of 45,594 hectares (176 square miles) and included military bases, ports, airports, schools, hospitals, and housing units.
Factors such as the development of alternative land routes and the increasing size of the vessels that can transit through the Canal have contributed to the decrease in the number of vessels required to transport cargo between 2016 and 2020.
On average, from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2020, toll revenue has increased 6.2% annually, primarily due to an increase in toll rates.
During fiscal 2020, the PCA had a surplus of about $ 1,281.4 million, a decrease of 14.3% compared to $ 1,495.8 million in 2019.
In fiscal year 2016, toll revenues from the Panama Canal were 1,933 million dollars and in the following years these toll revenues exceeded 2,000 million dollars annually.
