• Guatemala's organic market remains relatively small, ranking 14th in Latin America and 91st globally, with a market value of USD 15.3 million in 2023. Looking ahead, the market is expected to grow at a constant CAGR of 1.4% through the forecast period, lower than the Latin American average.

• Organic products in Guatemala represent less than 0.1% of global demand and 0.4% of the market in the Latin American region, recording a per capita expenditure of US$0.9 in 2023.

• The Organic Packaged Food and Beverages category in Guatemala registered a value growth of 4.1% in 2023 in current USD prices to record a market size of US$15.3 million. 
• Organic Packaged Food registered a historic CAGR in current USD prices from 2019 to 2023 of 15.3%, driven by a CAGR of 21.3% in Organic Staple Foods.
• Organic Packaged Beverages registered a historic CAGR in current USD prices of 3.4%, with Organic Hot Drinks driving growth with a CAGR of 8.6%.

• While there is increasing health consciousness, the push towards healthier eating could be stifled by the generally higher retail prices for healthier products. Nevertheless, consumers will increasingly look for products and alternatives with added-value benefits, which includes added protein, lactose-free, lower fat, organic, as well as natural ingredients and clean labelling.
• The health and wellness trend will continue to have a major influence on consumer choices and company strategies. Products that are lower in sugar, fat and salt are expected to become more widely available and popular across all categories. Similarly, interest in more wholesome options that are made with highly nutritious natural ingredients and contain fewer or no artificial additives and preservatives should remain strong.

• Within Organic Hot Drinks, Organic Coffee has experienced strong market growth. For the forecast period from 2023 to 2028, Organic Coffee is expected to reach a market size of US$1.6 million in 2028, along a constant CAGR of 9.8%.
• Another category expecting high growth is Organic Milk, with a solid 8.0% constant CAGR from 2023 to 2028, reaching a US$3.3 million in 2028.

• Diabetes and obesity are serious health issues in Guatemala, resulting in a rising health consciousness among consumers, particularly among higher income ones. These consumers are becoming more discerning and actively read ingredient labels and look to cut down on salt, fat, sugar and added preservatives, and instead look for clean, simple ingredients, with companies investing to create healthier alternatives for their staple products.
• Sugar overconsumption is becoming an important topic across the drinks landscape in Guatemala, with the soft and hot drinks offering continuing to evolve towards products with reduced sugar formulations, driven by a general industry strategy, but also by new consumption habits seen mainly amongst younger generations who are more informed about the potential harmful effects of consuming products with a high sugar content. However, flavour will remain one of the main purchasing decisions for soft and hot drinks; therefore, new reduced sugar formulations will need to closely resemble the flavours of the original formulas.

Economy: 

• Guatemala’s economy is expected to continue growing in 2025, with a projected real GDP growth of 3.8%. This comes after a real GDP growth of 3.7% in 2024, mainly driven by a significant influx of remittances to the country, a strong tourism sector and an increase in foreign direct investment.
• Real GDP growth is anticipated to remain at the same levels, reaching 3.5% in 2026 and averaging around 3.6% annually through 2028. 
• Inflation closed 2024 at 2.9%, in line with the Central Bank’s target, and is expected to remain unchanged for 2025.

 Population demographics: 

• Guatemala's population reached 18.3 million in 2024 and is projected to grow by 1.4% to 18.6 million in 2025. Guatemala has the second youngest median age for all Latin America countries, with a 30.4% percentage of the population aged 0 – 14 years old in 2024.
• The median age in Guatemala was recorded at 24.8 years in 2024, an increase of 1.7 years from 2020.

Income & expenditure: 

• The savings ratio in Guatemala stood at 6.9% of disposable income in 2024, slightly below the average in Latin America, with large inflows of remittances impacting the country’s savings and current account balance.
• Consumer expenditure per capita increased by 6.6% in 2024 in current USD terms. In constant USD, it is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 2.1% through 2028.

¹ Health and Wellness Definition: Health and wellness is the aggregation of organic packaged food and beverages, fortified/functional packaged food and beverages, naturally healthy packaged food and beverages, better for you packaged food and beverages and food intolerance products. The above definition and more can be referenced from the definitions table at the end of the report.

² Economic and Demographic Data has been updated to reflect final 2024 estimates, therefore using 2024 as the base year for exchange rates and prices.

³ Historic current prices and forecast constant 2024 prices.

Top 5 Cities By Population

Top 5 Grocery Retailers By Sales

Top 5 Export Commodities To Guatemala

³ Historic current prices and forecast constant 2024 prices.

Note : Total organics is the sum of all exports to a country within a year

Authorized Government Agency(s):

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA)

Agency(s) Contact Information:

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food 
Vice-Ministry of Food Safety and Regulations Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food
Department of Organic Agriculture and Native Resources (DAO) 
7a. Avenida 12-90 zona 13
edificio Monja Blanca
Phone: (502) 2413-7000
E-mail: agriculturaorganica.maga@gmail.com 

Name(s) of Regulation and/or Standard:

The national regulation in force in Guatemala is the Central American Technical Regulation (RTCA) 67.06.74:16 ‘Organic Agricultural Products: Requirements for production, processing, marketing, certification and labelling’. This regulation was agreed in 2019 by the six Central American countries and approved by the ministerial body of the Ministries of Economy, with the technical support of the Ministries and Secretariats of Agriculture of each state party and came into force on 25 October 2019. In Guatemala, it was officially established through Resolution No.
411-2019 (COMIECO LXXXVVI) and in Ministerial Agreement No.394-2019 of Ministry of Economy (MINECO).
 
The RTCA must be applied by all natural or legal persons engaged in the production, processing, labeling, storage, transportation and marketing of certified organic agricultural products; as well as to the public or private instances that carry out the tasks of registration, control and/or certification of this production.
 
Regulation in Spanish: https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/sica185550anx.pdf

Guatemala has a National Strategic Plan for 2013-2023.

Date of Implementation: 2019

All imports and exports of organic products must be shipped with an organic certification extended by an approved certifying agency.

Accreditation:

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is the official accreditation agency.

Reference Standards:

Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, plus Panama and the Dominican Republic have benchmarked their standards to a regional organic standard - the Central America Regional Standard. The standard is now implemented as regulations in these countries.

Additional Information:

USDA's GAIN Report Guatemala Exporter Guide (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Guatemala Food Processing Ingredients (2022)
USDA's GAIN Report Guatemala Food Service - Hotel Restaurant Institutional (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Organic Products Growth Potential in Guatemala (2015)
USDA's GAIN Report Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Country Report (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Export Certificate Report (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Guatemala Retail Foods (2024)