> In Panama, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 6.0% of the median living standard, 7.6 times the share it takes in the United States; for 29% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. Claude, OpenAI's API and Gemini are all officially offered. 73% of people use the internet, and Claude use per working-age person is 1.28 times the world average.

[World](https://themodelindex.org/world/) /

North America

AI access, cost and use · Central America · North America · data read 1 Oct 2026

# Panama

In Panama, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 6.0% of the median living standard, 7.6 times the share it takes in the United States; for 29% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. Claude, OpenAI's API and Gemini are all officially offered. 73% of people use the internet, and Claude use per working-age person is 1.28 times the world average.

6.0%

of the median living standard for a $20 plan

North America median 6.4% · United States 0.79%

29%

of people for whom the plan is over a tenth of their living standard

about 1.3 m people

3of 3

leading services officially offered

Claude · OpenAI · Gemini

73%

of people use the internet

world 74% · 4.6 m people

## The figures · Panama

People

4.6 m

Median living standard

$4,004a year per person · income

A $20 plan takes

6.0%of that · 7.6× the US share

For whom it is over a tenth

29%of people

Survey

2024revalued at 2025 prices

GNI per person

$19,140plan is 1.3% of it

Claude use per person

1.28×world average = 1

Notable AI models built here

0

## Officially offered here · 3 of 3

[Run it yourself →](https://themodelindex.org/local/)

Claude · claude.ai app

Yes

OpenAI · API

Yes

Gemini · web app

Yes

From each lab's own published list: Anthropic's Claude.ai countries, OpenAI's API countries and Google's Gemini web app countries. Not listed means not officially served; open-weight models can be run anywhere.

## Against North America and the world · regional figures are medians or population-weighted

| MEASURE | PANAMA | NORTH AMERICA | WORLD |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A $20 plan ÷ median living standard | 6.0% | 6.4% | 9.9% |
| People for whom it is over a tenth | 29% | 12% | 63% |
| Plan price ÷ GNI per person | 1.3% | 1.3% | 2.9% |
| People using the internet | 73% | 88% | 74% |
| Claude use per working-age person | 1.28× | 3.32× | 1.00× |
| Notable AI models built | 0 | 752 | 1,256 |

## What it is used for · Panama against the world

[Report ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-june-2026-report)

Panama

Work 45%

Personal 33%

Coursework 22%

The world

Work 42%

Personal 41%

Coursework 17%

Share of the world's Claude use

0.09%0.06% of the world's people

Work

45%world 42%

Personal

33%world 41%

Coursework

22%world 17%

Handed over to the model (automation)

51%world 48%

Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026: Claude.ai conversations by country. One product from one lab, so read it as a signal of who is using frontier models, not a census.

## What people make with it · share of conversations

Document or report

18%

Explanation or answer

12%

Advice or recommendation

8%

Analysis or summary

5%

The most common things people in Panama ask Claude to produce.

## Neighbours · Central America · lightest burden first

| COUNTRY | PEOPLE | ONLINE | $20 PLAN ÷ MEDIAN LIVING STANDARD | OVER A TENTH | CLAUDE USE PER PERSON | OFFICIAL LISTS |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Costa Rica](https://themodelindex.org/world/costa-rica/) | 5.2 m | 87% | 3.6% | 10% | 1.57× | 3 of 3 |
| Panama | 4.6 m | 73% | 6.0% | 29% | 1.28× | 3 of 3 |
| [Mexico](https://themodelindex.org/world/mexico/) | 132 m | 83% | 6.6% | 27% | 0.63× | 3 of 3 |
| [Belize](https://themodelindex.org/world/belize/) | 423k | 80% | 6.8% | 29% | not reported | 3 of 3 |
| [El Salvador](https://themodelindex.org/world/el-salvador/) | 6.4 m | 66% | 9.9% | 50% | 0.59× | 3 of 3 |
| [Honduras](https://themodelindex.org/world/honduras/) | 11 m | 59% | 14% | 64% | 0.26× | 3 of 3 |
| [Guatemala](https://themodelindex.org/world/guatemala/) | 19 m | 60% | 14% | 67% | 0.37× | 3 of 3 |
| [Nicaragua](https://themodelindex.org/world/nicaragua/) | 7.0 m | 61% | no estimate | – | not reported | 3 of 3 |

[All countries →](https://themodelindex.org/world/)

## The foundations · Panama against the world

[World Bank ↗](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator)

People using the internet

73%

world 74%

People with electricity

96%

world 92%

Mobile subscriptions per 100 people

157

world 112

Fixed broadband lines per 100 people

18.1

world 20.1

Enrolled in university-level education

54%

world 44%

Research spending, share of GDP

0.2%

world 2.6%

Researchers per million people

250

world 1,652

Secure internet servers per million people

2,234

world 16,381

The latest World Bank figure for each measure. The tick marks the world figure.

A $20-a-month plan ($240 a year, US list price) against the median household living standard per person in each country. The median is from the latest national household survey (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform), revalued from 2021 purchasing-power dollars into US dollars at recent prices and official exchange rates, assuming real living standards have not changed since the survey. Some surveys measure income and others consumption, which includes food people grow and housing they own, so this is a living standard, not cash to spare. Countries with no survey since 2015 or no defensible exchange rate are left blank.

[World Bank household surveys ↗](https://pip.worldbank.org/) [Anthropic countries ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/supported-countries) [OpenAI countries ↗](https://platform.openai.com/docs/supported-countries) [Gemini countries ↗](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13575153) [Anthropic Economic Index ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-june-2026-report) [Epoch AI notable models ↗](https://epoch.ai/data/notable-ai-models)

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Source: https://themodelindex.org/world/panama/ · The Model Index · data as of 2026-10-01