General Bankthe Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and Copa Airlines They maintain the first three positions of the Merco Empresas Panama ranking 2026a classification that recognizes the 100 companies with the best corporate reputation and which, in its ninth edition, combines the evaluations of managers, experts, citizens and workers.
The leadership is maintained compared to 2025, but the list records movements among the companies that complete the first ten places. National Brewery rises to fourth position, McDonald’s advance to the sixth and Melo Group enters this group, going from 13th place to ninth.
The study brings together 16,492 surveysseven evaluations and 26 sources of information. In addition to the general ranking, it presents classifications on reputation among the population, digital presence, job attractiveness and communication teams, which allow us to observe how the recognition of companies changes according to the public that evaluates them.
Note of interest: Merco Talento 2026: Meet the favorite companies to work in Panama
A podium that remains
Banco General, the ACP and Copa Airlines maintain the first three places in the Merco Empresas Panamá 2026 ranking.
General Bank takes first place with 10,000 pointsfollowed by the ACPwith 9,627and Copa Airlineswith 9,561. The scores are transferred to a scale that goes from 3,000, for the company ranked 100, to 10,000, for the one that obtains the best rating.
National Brewery rises from fifth to fourth place, with 8,486 pointswhile National Bank of Panama goes from fourth to fifth, with 8,319. McDonald’s gains two positions and reaches sixth place, with 7,709ahead of Savings bankwhich preserves the seventh, with 7,705.
The group is completed Nestlein eighth position, with 7,622 points; Melo Groupin the ninth, with 7,406; and Banistmowhich maintains tenth place, with 7,325. The entry of Grupo Melo coincides with the exit of Riba Smith Supermarkets of the top ten: goes from ninth to eleventh place.
Banking maintains an important presence among the best valued companies. Four financial entities appear in the first ten places: Banco General, Banco Nacional de Panamá, Caja de Ahorros and Banistmo. They are joined by companies linked to transportation, logistics and food.
Promotions and incorporations
Financial and banking, as well as food and beverages, are the sectors with the greatest presence in the sectoral classification presented by Merco, with 18 companies each.
The changes extend to the rest of the classification. The Battery House goes from 17th to 12th place; Delta Oilsfrom 26 to 13; and Tigofrom the 22nd to the 14th. King Group It also advances, rising from 30th to 20th place.
Other notable promotions correspond to Heineken Panamawhich goes from 53rd to 27th place; Do It Centerfrom 52 to 32; and Global Bankfrom 55 to 36. Carbone Companies rises from 83rd place to 49th, while Greenblue Group advances from 94 to 67.
Among the names that did not appear in the first hundred positions of 2025 and appear in the 2026 edition are Credicorp Bankin 68th place; La Prensa Corporationin 84; Panama Copperin 86; and Panama Ports Companyin 92.
They also incorporate Motta Agencies, Johnson & Johnson, Telered, Super Meats, Calesa Group, Philips, Ficohsa Bank and MMG Bank. Its presence identifies entries to the first hundred positions compared to the previous year; It does not necessarily imply that these companies are evaluated for the first time.
Recognition changes depending on the public
Café Durán, Samsung Electronics and Adidas head Merco Sociedad, which collects the assessment of the general population.
The general ranking coexists with different results in the specialized monitors. In Merco Societywhich includes the assessment of the general population, Duran Coffee takes first place, followed by Samsung Electronics and Adidas. Then they appear super 99, Paschal, KFC, Xtra Supermarkets, Riba Smith Supermarkets, Do It Center and Arrocha Pharmacies.
In the digital reputation classification, Copa Airlines tops the list, ahead of National Television (TVN) and the ACP. Medcom Corporation and Savings bank They complete the top five places. This component analyzes publications, opinions and conversations in the digital sphere and incorporates an evaluation using artificial intelligence.
For its part, General Bank also leads the job attractiveness monitor, followed by National Bank of Panama and National Brewery. The ACP is placed fourth and Savings bankfifth. The Merco Talento component includes the opinions of workers, job seekers, university students and specialists, among other sources.
The ACP It also stands out in expert evaluations: it occupies first place among financial analysts, economic journalists, business professors, non-governmental organizations and consumer associations. Among the unions, the first place belongs to National Hospital.
The canal entity also heads the classification of best communication equipment, followed by Copa Airlines and Banco Nacional de Panamá. McDonald’s and Banco General complete the top five places in this evaluation carried out by journalists.
Innovation, a persistent weakness
Innovation maintains a negative balance between strengths and weaknesses in the perception of managers, going from −9.9 in 2025 to −10.1 in 2026.
Beyond positions, reputational profile analysis identifies areas where companies receive less recognition. In the evaluations of the managers, Innovation presents the most negative balance between strengths and weaknesses: −10.1up from −9.9 in 2025.
The international dimension also records a negative balance, −5.3although it improves compared to −6.3 the previous year. In contrast, they positively highlight the quality of the commercial offer, with +7.5and the economic-financial results, with +6.1.
Among the specific variables, digital transformation and artificial intelligence presents the most unfavorable balance, with −7.0. These data describe perceptions about the companies selected by managers; They are not equivalent to a measurement of technological investment. Merco specifies that the strengths and weaknesses indicated in this exercise do not influence the ranking.
How the classification is constructed
Banco General, Banco Nacional de Panamá and Cervecería Nacional lead the monitor of the most attractive companies to work for.
The production process took place between March and September 2026. They responded 656 managers of companies that operate in Panama and invoice more than 10 million dollars; participated 283 experts and 1,845 citizens in Merco Sociedad. The digital component analyzed 53,336 mentions.
In the final result, the evaluation of managers weighs 27%; that of experts, 34%; specialized monitors, 29%; and objective indicators, 10%. For this reason, global leadership includes different perspectives and does not correspond exclusively to the opinions of consumers.
According to Merco, participation and presence in the ranking are free, and the monitor is financed through the sale of confidential reports. The monitoring of the methodology to prepare the classification was the subject of a independent review by KPMG.
