Exports from Latin America and the Caribbean increased only 2.9% in the first quarter of 2023which represents a sharp slowdown compared to 16.4% in 2022, revealed a report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Thursday.
The agency attributed this slowdown to the lower prices of basic products such as oil, coffee and iron, as well as the weakening of export volumes, although it noted that the region’s trade performance was above the world average.
According to the IDB report, South American exports fell by 0.3%, dragged down by the falls in Bolivia (-23.5%), Venezuela (-20.2%), Argentina (-17.9%), Ecuador (-7.7%), Peru ( -4.8%) Colombia (-4.7%) and Uruguay (-3.5%).
It might interest you: Inflation in May drops to 5.84%, its best level since August 2021
The only South American countries that experienced growth in their exports were Paraguay (23.4%), Chile (10.7%) and Brazil (4.8%).
Exports in Mexico in the first quarter of 2023 grew by 6.3%a lower rate than in 2022, while in Central America they only increased by 1.6%.
According to the report, exports grew in Costa Rica (14.1%) and Nicaragua (5.8%), but fell in Guatemala (-4.8%), El Salvador (-4.6%), Honduras (-3.7%) and the Dominican Republic ( -1.5%).
Imports from Latin America and the Caribbean also slowed down in the first quarter of the year, registering 0.6% compared to 21.1% in 2022.
Economist Paolo Giordano, coordinator of the study, said in a statement that “the expansive business cycle” that occurred after the Covid-19 pandemic has ended.
He also pointed out that the decelerating trend in exports will probably continue in the second quarterbut the situation will stabilize in the second half of the year.
The last:
EFE International news agency based in Madrid and present in more than 110 countries.