Exports From Latin America & Caribbean Grew 20% In 2022 -ECLAC

According to a report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) the total value of exports of goods and services from Latin America and the Caribbean grew 20 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. 

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The data corresponds to the document entitled International Trade Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean 2022, in which it is brought up that regional exports of goods had their second year of growth at double-digit rates. 

ECLAC said in its report that the activity in the region experienced 14 percent in the price category, as well as an increase of 6 percent in the volume exported.

The value of regional imports of goods increased by 24 percent, and the bulk of this increase in the value of regional imports is also due to the price component, according to the agency. 

Regional exports of goods had their second year of growth at double-digit rates (20%) in 2022, after growing 27% the previous year. However, as in 2021, the expansion was driven by exogenous factors: ECLAC report.

In this regard, ECLAC added that as in 2021, "the expansion of shipments was mainly driven by exogenous factors (the rise in the prices of raw materials, particularly fuels), and not by the ability to increase the volume exported or to diversify the regional export offer towards new sectors."

Regading world trade, ECLAC forecasts that after expanding 9.8 percent in 2021 and the slowdown experienced in 2022, a worsening is expected in 2023. The agency also projects that the volume of world trade in goods will grow just one percent in 2023, having grown 3.5 percent in 2022.

Exports to the European Union were the most dynamic in 2022, with a growth in value of 26 percent said ECLAC noting that growth in exports to China was at 8 percent while inter-regional trade expanded by 22 percent.