Is Chile Facing Economic Challenges? Foreign Trade Reports 15 Consecutive Months of Growth

Breakdown

In terms of sectors, the analysis noted the performance of the country’s exports in the first 11 months of the year as follows:

The mining sector achieved returns of USD 56.418 billion, a 10.5% increase compared to the same period in 2024 (+ USD 5.346 billion), setting its own record for foreign sales.

The dynamism exhibited by mining shipments is supported by the rise in copper concentrates, which accounted for USD 32.558 billion, reflecting an 18.4% increase (+ USD 5.050 billion). Meanwhile, lithium carbonate recorded shipments of USD 1.712 billion, showing a decrease of 26.7% compared to the same period in 2024 (- USD 623 million).

In the fruit sector, the summer season began with shipments totaling USD 518 million in November 2025. Specifically, fresh cherries kicked off a new season with exports of USD 300 million in the eleventh month of 2025, nearly tripling shipments from the same month in 2024 (USD 106 million). Additionally, fresh blueberries generated returns of USD 12.08 million in November, marking a 60% increase compared to November 2024.

The study revealed that overseas sales from the food industry continued to rise, reaching a total of USD 12.543 billion between January and November 2025 (+6.9%; +USD 805 million), thus achieving the highest returns for a similar period on record.

This growth is driven by exports of salmon species, frozen squid, frozen blueberries, frozen horse mackerel, dehydrated plums, powdered milk, frozen chicken, apple juice, and grape juice.

Meanwhile, organic food shipments totaled USD 368 million, representing a 19.5% increase compared to the January-November 2024 period (+USD 60 million). This sector’s growth is attributed to increased exports of frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries), rosé wines, bottled Chardonnay, and nuts, among others.

Exports of bottled wines amounted to USD 1.205 billion, a 3.3% decline compared to the first eleven months of 2024 (-USD 41 million), due to a drop in shipments of red blends, although this was largely offset by increases in white wine blends, Sauvignon Blanc, rosé wines, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and sparkling wines, among others.

The report added that forest manufacturing totalled shipments of USD 5.411 billion, marking a 7.3% decrease compared to the first eleven months of 2024 (-USD 427 million), due to lower shipments of cellulose and wood chips. However, strong growth was observed in the shipments of channeling papers, blanks, glued laminated boards, beds, paper bags, corrugated cardboard, OSB boards, and doors, among other products in the sector.

The analysis indicated that chemical manufacturing recorded shipments of USD 7.315 billion, up 2.2% compared to the first eleven months of 2024 (+USD 155 million), driven by higher returns from molybdenum oxide, iodine, lithium sulfates, methanol, and lithium hydroxide.

Exports of Non-Traditional Goods

In summary, according to the SUBREI report, after eleven months of the year, traditional goods accounted for 56.1% of total exports, while non-traditional shipments represented 43.9%.

Non-traditional exports from the country totaled USD 41.997 billion, reflecting a 6.4% increase (+USD 2.538 billion) compared to the same period in 2024.

Specifically, the rise in non-traditional shipments has been led by hazelnuts, salmonids, iodine, nuts, fresh avocados, frozen horse mackerel, squids, frozen poultry breasts, and frozen blueberries (both conventional and organic), among other notable national products that have shown significant increases during the analyzed period.

Service Exports

From January to November, service exports continued to set records, totaling USD 2.839 billion, exceeding all of 2024’s total exports.

This figure represented a 12.7% increase compared to the same period in 2024 (+USD 312 million), marking 41 consecutive months of growth in these services.

During this period, 193 different service offerings were exported, with 98 of them showing growth compared to the same months in 2024.

The five most exported services were website hosting (USD 320 million), aircraft maintenance and repair (USD 294 million), administrative management consulting (USD 200 million), computer and IT technical support (USD 176 million), and marketing consulting (USD 146 million).

These services were exported to 127 destinations, with the United States being the largest recipient, receiving USD 923 million.

It is followed by regional trading partners: Peru with USD 543 million and Colombia with shipments totaling USD 243 million.

Other important service destination countries include the United Kingdom (USD 129 million) and Switzerland (USD 104 million). Also mentioned are Mexico (USD 77 million), Argentina (USD 72 million), China (USD 68 million), Spain (USD 58 million), and Luxembourg (USD 54 million). Together, these countries account for 80% of service exports.

Exporting Companies

In the first eleven months of 2025, a total of 8,447 domestic companies recorded exports, an increase of 2.5% compared to the same period in 2024. Among them, 5,173 companies exported manufactured goods, 1,751 shipped agricultural products, and 1,082 provided services abroad.

Other notable sectors in terms of the number of companies included wines (384), fishing and aquaculture (343), the forestry industry (317), and mining (252).

By geographical region, during this period, a total of 5,796 exporters directed their goods and services to Latin America, 2,536 to Europe, 2,448 to North America, and 2,052 to Asia and Oceania. Additionally, 380 companies exported to the Middle East and 279 to Africa.

By company size, there are 3,361 small and medium-sized exporting companies; 3,077 large businesses and 526 microenterprises. Moreover, 1,625 Chilean companies exported for the first time in 2025, collectively totaling shipments of USD 388 million.

25.8% of the value of their exports corresponded to services provided abroad. Other notable exports included natural gas, fresh cherries, frozen sheep meat, nuts, fresh kiwis, wooden furniture, fresh avocados, chestnuts, jewelry, fresh apples, seaweed, dehydrated plums, frozen squids, fresh pears, fresh grapes, fresh lemons, electric transformers, frozen salmonids, textiles, and seeds for planting, among others.

Finally, the report notes that 94.1% of their shipments were directed to destinations with which Chile has valid Economic-Commercial Agreements, including Mercosur, China, the Pacific Alliance, and the United States.

El Ciudadano

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