Peru’s exports of goods and services fell significantly during the pandemic from $54.89 billion in 2019 to $45.86 billion in 2020. Despite this, Peru’s trade activity supports a healthy business environment with strong international commercial connections.
Peru’s strong international ties support increased exports activities in Peru. Additionally, Peru is the world’s biggest exporter of blueberries, asparagus, and quinoa. Its non-traditional exports hit record levels and Peru’s exports of goods and services recovered quickly from the pandemic, reaching $65.98 billion in 2021 and $71.13 billion in 2022.
Table of Contents
Find out how Peru’s export environment is growing and current trends behind its trade activity.
Peru faces acceleration in exports
According to the forecast report published by FocusEconomics’ LatinFocus Consensus in November 2023, Peru’s merchandise exports accelerated by 16.4%. This marks the country’s fastest growth since June 2022, demonstrating a strong recovery in the Pacific Alliance member’s economy.
In the meantime, imports also bounced back after the pandemic, going from $42.66 billion in 2020 to $70.59 billion in 2022. This is due to the back of a jump in purchases of consumer and capital goods imports.
The merchandise trade balance also recorded a $16.7 billion surplus in November 2023, increasing from the recorded $15.4 billion surplus in October 2023. This shows a generally positive trend with regard to Peru’s merchandise trade balance.
These consistently positive results demonstrate a positive trade environment for Peru, indicates potential for increasing trade activity and overall economic wealth, and a competitive place to trade from as a foreign business.
The biggest exporter of blueberries, asparagus and quinoa
A major part of Peru’s trade surplus is that the country is world’s largest exporter of blueberries, asparagus, and quinoa. This is due to its diversification policy of target markets. The major target markets of Peru are China, the United States, and South Korea. Despite this, Peru is seeing a decrease in its exportation of blueberries from 2022/2023 due to this season ending with only 215,000 tonnes – the equivalent of a 25% decrease from 2022/2023.
Similarly, Peru has witnessed a record in the production in the agro-industry and in non-traditional fishing sectors, along with sales of 732 national products.
Non-traditional exports continue to hit record levels
Despite the global economic uncertainty and shrinkage in mineral exports, Peru’s non-traditional exports reached a new record totaling $18.23 billion in 2022, registering a growth of 32% compared to 2019. Shipments of higher value-added products continued to grow, due to joint efforts between the private sector and the state to stimulate the internationalization of Peruvian companies, as well as the entry of exportable supplies into new markets.
The exportation of non-traditional goods also continued to grow in the first few months of 2023 with a measured growth of 9.3% from the same period of the previous year. During the first quarter of 2022, the US remained the main export destination for non-traditional Peruvian goods, accounting for 34.8% of the total. Additional key destinations for non-traditional Peruvian exports during this period were the Netherlands ($303.9 million), Spain ($108.8 million), and China ($95.2 million).
In April 2023, Peru’s total export of traditional (fish flour, copper, gold, zinc, and petroleum derivatives) increased by 24.0%, whereas the total export of non-traditional products grew by 7.8%.
In 2022, China stayed the main export destination for total exports of Peru, with sales totaling over US$17.4 billion (30%), followed by the US (14.4%), Japan (4.85%), Canada, and Korea. Additionally, the value of merchandise exports totalled $58 billion in 2022.
Peru’s agricultural exports have grown remarkably
Peru’s agricultural exports are estimated to have reached $10.5 billion in 2023. Peru’s target market in regard to fruit export are India and Australia. Therefore, Peru has focused on increasing the production of grapes, blueberries, and avocados.
Peru has free trade agreements with about 20 countries. Peru has been negotiating a commercial treaty with India since 2017. An agreement with Australia was signed in 2018 and took effect in 2020.
During recent years, Peru has been competing in the sale of avocados with Mexico. Mexico is the world leader in supplying avocados. In order to reach this goal, Peru has expanded its irrigation system to widen planting areas by nearly 200,000 hectares, generating at least 1 million jobs.
Take advantage of Peru’s export growth by investing in the country
The sustainable growth of the Peruvian economy supports businesses in the nation and new arrivals to the market. With strategic budget spending, international cooperation, promotion of the Peruvian industries, investment in science and technology and the protection of the environment, Peru is a highly competitive option to incorporate a business in its diverse industries.
At Biz Latin Hub, we help expanding businesses to enter the Peruvian market, providing legal services to make sure your business is compliant with local law regulation. Additionally, Biz Latin Hub supports traders’ engagements with customs agents, and advises on market entry and international trade.
Our multilingual team of expert lawyers and accountants can assist you with your company formation, visa processing, commercial representation, and employment services needs. Contact us now for personalized support to begin your commercial operations in Peru.
Learn more about our team of expert authors.