Latin American and Caribbean countries have obvious resource advantages, and regional countries continue to take measures to expand foreign trade and promote diversified export products. In 2023, regional export trade achieved further growth. Salazar Chirinakis, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), recently stated that a major challenge facing the Latin American region, especially South America, is how to increase the diversity of export products to reduce excessive dependence on raw materials, and suggested that regional countries strengthen the development of industrial clusters.
In recent years, bilateral trade between China and Latin American countries has grown rapidly. In 2023, China's import and export trade with Latin America reached 3.44 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%, maintaining growth for several consecutive years. The continuous deepening of economic and trade cooperation between China and Latin America has provided important assistance for Latin American countries to expand export trade and promote sustainable economic growth.
New progress has been made in regional trade level
According to recent data released by the Economic Commission for Latin America, the economic growth rate in Latin America is expected to be 1.7% in 2023; In 2023, the export volume of goods from 12 countries including Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guyana will maintain a growth trend; The overall growth trend of Latin American service trade exports in 2023 is mainly due to the growth of the tourism industry and modern service industries including finance and information technology.
According to data released by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade, Brazil's total exports in 2023 reached 339.673 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.7%; Realized a trade surplus of approximately 98.8 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 60.6%. Active commodity exports became an important factor driving up Brazil's foreign trade surplus last year. According to the latest preliminary data released by the Mexican National Bureau of Statistics, Mexico's export volume reached a historic high in 2023, reaching 593.01 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%. The latest data released by the Central Reserve Bank of Peru shows that in the year 2023 (December 2022 to November 2023), Peru's trade surplus reached 16.891 billion US dollars, while the total export value in November was 5.886 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%. Chile's service exports increased by 57% year-on-year from January to November 2023, breaking the $2 billion mark for the first time. The export of non-traditional trade goods increased by 2.5% year-on-year.
The scale of cross-border e-commerce industry in Latin America continues to expand, promoting the growth of regional export trade. According to relevant data released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the sales revenue of the e-commerce industry in Latin America is expected to increase by nearly 30% year-on-year in 2023, reaching $509 billion. Brazil and Mexico have become the main markets for regional e-commerce, accounting for 50% to 60% of the regional market share. According to the analysis of ECLAC, as countries such as Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica successively launch mobile payment solutions, providing new means for cross-border electronic payments, the scale of cross-border e-commerce in the region is expected to further expand.
The stable growth of export trade in Latin America has also benefited from the new progress made in trade facilitation. The Global Report on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation 2023 recently released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed that among the 31 core measures surveyed globally in 2023, the average implementation rate of Latin American countries was 71%, higher than the average level of 69% among participating countries in the global survey. Among them, the implementation rate of 9 Latin American countries increased by 10 percentage points or more. The integration process of Latin America and the facilitation of trade between regional countries mutually promote each other. Many countries actively implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement and sign free trade agreements with their trading partners, which plays an important role in promoting the growth of regional export trade.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean suggests that deepening regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean can help enhance the resilience of regional export trade and create more efficient production models in the context of global trade challenges. Giordano, Chief Economist of the Integration and Trade Department of the Inter American Development Bank, believes that in order to promote sustained and stable growth of regional export trade, Latin American countries still need to further increase policy and investment support, improve the international competitiveness of products, deepen regional economic and trade cooperation and integration process.