Exports of services in Chile exceed US$ 2,500 million
Santiago, December 12, 2024. As of November 2024, foreign trade figures show a positive year-end for the sector: the value of exports of services exceeded the US$ 2.5 billion barrier for the first time, while shipments of goods continue to grow, registering an increase of 4.7% in the period.
According to the advance of the Monthly Trade Report prepared by the Directorate of Studies of the Undersecretariat of International Economic Relations (SUBREI) -with data from the Central Bank and the National Customs Service- between January and November exports of services climbed to US$ 2,518 million, showing an increase of 18% with respect to the same period in 2023 and surpassing all exports in 2023 (US$ 2,431 million).
In view of these figures, the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, Claudia Sanhueza, pointed out that the increase in exports of services reflects the work being done to diversify the export basket, "opening up new opportunities for entrepreneurs in strategic sectors of the economy to internationalize their businesses, generating more jobs and growth for the country. The export sector is one of the engines of Chile's development, so we will continue working to diversify our international economic relations and to make the Economic-Trade Agreements a bridge between national innovation and international markets".
In total, 194 different services were exported during the period, with 115 of them recording increases in their sales abroad. The largest increases in shipments were in aircraft maintenance and repair, Cloud Center, logistics support, R&D in the medical and pharmaceutical sciences, expert witness financial services, animation filming and original software design.
Other services with increasing returns are information processing, marketing, reproduction and development of parent material for the generation of fruit and vegetable plants, software licensing and/or leasing, consulting in engineering applied to mining, production of television program originals, remote monitoring, and research and development in agronomy.
Chilean services have been directed to a total of 131 destinations worldwide. Among the largest recipients of Chilean supply, the United States stood out in the period, with operations for US$ 839 million, followed by Peru (US$ 436 million) and Colombia (US$ 185 million). Collectively, these three markets account for 58% of the sector's shipments.
Other relevant destinations are Switzerland (US$ 119 million), Mexico (US$ 85 million), United Kingdom (US$ 84 million), Argentina (US$ 72 million), Spain (US$ 64 million), Brazil (US$ 48 million) and China (US$ 42 million).
Growth in exported goods in 2024: 4.7% more than in 2023
Exports of goods, on the other hand, recorded the best amount for a January-November period since records have been kept, climbing to US$ 90,741 million, with an increase of 4.7% compared to the same period in 2023, a growth supported once again by the historical record of shipments of copper concentrates, forestry products, fresh fruit, machinery and organic food, among others.
Key destinations for Chilean exports in 2024
By sector, mining continues to lead with shipments of US$ 52.28 billion, reflecting an increase of 9.5% with respect to the same period of 2023. In this category, shipments of copper concentrates, copper cathodes and gold are noteworthy, which collectively offset the decline in lithium carbonate shipments during the period.
The forestry industry, meanwhile, had foreign sales of US$ 2.122 billion, an increase of 2.1%, due to higher foreign sales of plywood, MDF boards, profiles and moldings, sawn timber (blanks), cork stoppers, beds and wooden furniture.
At the end of the eleventh month of 2024, fresh fruit shipments continue to set records, with accumulated operations for US$ 6,968 million, a figure that reflects an increase of 20.3% compared to the same period of 2023, due to the growing returns of kiwis, plums, grapes, apples, pears, blueberries, lemons and avocados. Fresh cherries began their season in November with shipments in the month totaling US$ 70 million, up 42% compared to November 2023, with the three main destinations being China (US$ 55 million), the United States (US$ 8.7 million) and Brazil (US$ 2.1 million).
The wine sector totaled foreign sales of US$ 1,509 million, an increase of 6.4% compared to the same period of 2023, largely supported by the increase in the bottled wine category. Cellulose shipments totaled exports of US$ 2,690.2 million, an increase of 18.9%, and machinery and equipment shipments totaled US$ 1,193.4 million, an increase of 11.2% in the period.
Finally, food exports accumulated shipments of US$ 11,730.1 million, marking a slight decrease of 0.9% compared to the same period of 2023, due to lower shipments of salmonids and fish oils. Despite the above, the sector shows significant increases in exports of meat, frozen jack mackerel, olive oil, raisins, jams, condensed milk, powdered milk, cheese and frozen berries, among others.
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