[9] In 2024, Guyana had a per capita gross domestic product (purchasing power parity) of Int$80,137 and an average GDP growth of 4.2% over the previous decade.

Since 1986, Guyana has received its entire wheat supply from the United States on concessional terms under a PL 480 Food for Peace programme.

In 1999, through the Paris Club "Lyons terms" and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative Guyana managed to negotiate $256 million in debt forgiveness.

About half of Guyana's debt is owed to the multilateral development banks and 20% to its neighbour Trinidad and Tobago, which until 1986 was its principal supplier of petroleum products.

The shift from a state-controlled economy to a primarily mixed economic system began under Desmond Hoyte and continued under PPP/CIVIC governments.

The current PPP/C administration recognizes the need for foreign investment to create jobs, enhance technical capabilities, and generate goods for export.

It was soon discovered that the soil and climate were ideal for growing sugar cane and slaves from Africa were brought in to work on these plantations.

Socialist policies were of great interest at the time, and nearly every sector of industry was nationalized during the Burnham presidency of the 1970s, with new agencies established to support the poor and working class.

Initially, government investment was successful to aid growth, but lacked management skills and was weak in the face of world commodity prices and competition.

Infrastructure is primarily concentrated on the coast, and there is difficulty in building up industries in the hinterlands due to limitations of access and energy.

Agriculture and mining are Guyana's most important economic activities, with sugar, bauxite, rice, and gold accounting for 70–75 percent of export earnings.

[14] Mining has surpassed the economic importance of sugar in recent years, making up a sizable portion of Guyana's GDP.

Guyana increased crude oil production by an annual average of 98,000 b/d from 2020 to 2023, making it the third-fastest growing non-OPEC producing country during this period.

The expansion of this sector has significantly contributed to the national economy, with the petroleum industry driving a 62.3 percent GDP growth in 2022, the highest globally according to the IMF.

Looking forward, Guyana plans to further boost its production capacity to about 1.3 million bpd by 2027 through the development of new projects like Yellowtail, Uaru, and Whiptail.

"[12] Despite the vast forests covering the country, the timber industry has remained small due to infrastructural limitations such as undeveloped roads and lacking or unreliable electricity to milling operations.