Guatemala Statistics 2026: Cost of Living, Prices & Wages — Official Data
Every key Guatemala number we track — cost of living, fuel, electricity, wages and exchange rates — compiled from official sources (INE, Banguat, MEM, CNEE, MINTRAB), refreshed automatically, and free to cite. Page rebuilt July 18, 2026.
Exchange rate (USD → GTQ)
| Metric | Value | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Banguat reference rate | Q7.62311 per USD | 2026-07-18 |
Source: Banco de Guatemala — tipo de cambio de referencia, pulled daily from the official Banguat web service. Daily history and bank buy/sell spreads: exchange-rates page.
Basic food basket — canasta básica alimentaria (INE)
| Measure (June 2026) | GTQ / month |
|---|---|
| Urban, per person | Q943.14 |
| Rural, per person | Q727.14 |
| Urban reference family (4.16 members) | Q3,923.46 |
| Extended basket (CBV), urban per person | Q2,283.35 |
Source: INE Guatemala — Canasta Básica Alimentaria (published monthly; open data at datos.ine.gob.gt). Monthly trend chart + family calculator: canasta básica page.
Fuel prices (MEM national averages)
| Fuel | GTQ / gallon |
|---|---|
| Regular gasoline | Q31.33 |
| Premium gasoline | Q32.33 |
| Diesel | Q27.53 |
Source: Ministerio de Energía y Minas — precios de combustibles. Price sheet vigencia: 2026-06-30 to 2026-07-06 (last verified against MEM 2026-07-15) — when MEM pauses publication, the last official sheet stays shown with its dates. All 22 departments: gas-prices page.
Electricity tariffs (CNEE regulated rates)
| Distributor | Social tariff (GTQ/kWh) | Regular tariff (GTQ/kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| EEGSA (Empresa Electrica de Guatemala) | Q1.42 | Q1.51 |
| Energuate (DEORSA/DEOCSA) | Q2.04 | Q2.13 |
Source: CNEE — precios regulados (tariffs reset quarterly). Full tier tables and fixed charges: electricity page.
Minimum wage 2026
| Sector (CE1) | Monthly base | Daily | + Q250 bonus = total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-agricultural | Q4,002.28 | Q133.41 | Q4,252.28 |
| Agricultural | Q3,791.20 | Q126.37 | Q4,041.20 |
| Maquila (export) | Q3,409.73 | Q113.66 | Q3,659.73 |
Source: MINTRAB, Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025 (two-tier system; CE1 = Guatemala Department shown). The Q250/month bonificación incentivo (Decreto 78-89) is a separate statutory bonus on top of the base wage. Full sector detail, CE2 rates and salary benchmarks: salaries page.
Remittances (USA → Guatemala corridor)
| Metric | Value | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-market rate (Banguat) | Q7.62311 per USD | 2026-07-18 |
We track what each major provider (Wise, Western Union, Remitly, Xoom and others) actually delivers on a US$500 send, daily since February 2026. Live comparison + rate history: remittances page.
Minimum wage vs. food basket
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Urban family food basket (June 2026) | Q3,923.46 |
| Non-agricultural minimum wage incl. bonus | Q4,252.28 |
| Basket as share of the wage | 92.3% |
| Left over after food | Q328.82 |
Derived from the INE and MINTRAB figures above — one full-time minimum-wage income covers the reference family's food, with little left for housing, transport or health. Context: canasta básica · salaries.
Methodology
This page is generated from the same live data feeds that power our topic pages. Each feed scrapes or queries its official source on a fixed cadence, stores the raw values with their publication period, and this page renders them at build time — no manual copying, no third-party aggregators in the citable sections:
| Series | Official source | Update cadence |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange rate | Banco de Guatemala (Banguat) reference rate web service | Daily |
| Food basket (CBA/CBV) | INE — Canasta Básica Alimentaria monthly release | Monthly |
| Fuel prices | MEM — official weekly price sheet (national + 22 departments) | Weekly, when published |
| Electricity tariffs | CNEE — regulated tariff schedule (EEGSA, Energuate) | Quarterly |
| Minimum wage | MINTRAB — Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025 + Decreto 78-89 bonus | Annual |
| Remittance corridor | Banguat mid-market + daily provider tracking on a US$500 send | Daily |
Two things we deliberately exclude from the citable core: rent and expat-budget figures. Those are estimates built from marketplace listings and surveys — useful, but not official statistics. They live separately on the real estate and cost of living pages, labeled as estimates.
When a source pauses publication (as MEM sometimes does with fuel sheets), the last official figures stay up with their validity dates shown — we never substitute an unofficial source or extrapolate a number.
Download the dataset
Download guatemala-key-stats.csv
One tidy CSV: metric, value, unit, period, source, source URL, and retrieval date for every figure on this page. Regenerated daily.
How to cite this page
Every section heading on this page has a stable anchor (for example
/guatemala-statistics/#minimum-wage) that will not change — safe to deep-link from
articles and research. For press inquiries or a custom data pull, contact us.
Related data pages
Deeper series behind each number: canasta básica trend · exchange rates & bank spreads · gas prices by department · electricity tariff tiers · salaries & labor law · remittance provider comparison · food prices