Following improved export prices and after having grown 2.6% in 2023, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) estimated that Mexican exports accelerated their pace of expansion to 4% in 2024, driven by mechanical devices, vehicles and their parts.
According to the 2025 edition of the Trade Trends Estimates for Latin America and the Caribbean report , this increase was due to demand from the United States, although Asia, especially Japan, India and Singapore, also contributed.
According to the analysis, coordinated by Paolo Giordano , sales to the remaining destinations contracted. “Mexico continued to be the engine of exports in the region. The growth rate of export values accelerated, driven by better prices, while volumes grew slightly,” the study underlined.
It is explained there that the value of exports to the United States grew by 4.7% , while to Asia, not including China, it was 7 percent.
In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, the IDB announced that the value of exports expanded 4.1% last year compared to the previous year, after falling 1.6% in 2023.
The analysis stated that this increase was due to the stabilization of export volumes. “After the contraction observed in 2023, some countries began to register signs of improvement between the end of that year and the beginning of 2024. However, the evolution was differentiated at the subregional level,” the organization pointed out.
Despite the improvement, the IDB warned that it sees no signs that guarantee the growth trend will continue, due to the uncertainty that prevails in the global economy.
“The balance of risks for regional trade remains balanced and projections point to limited growth, in a context of high uncertainty regarding the global economy,” it said.
Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Guyana showed an improvement with increases of 18.1% , 18.7% , 14.6% , and 59.6% , respectively. On the other hand, among the countries that showed falls compared to the previous year were Brazil, Paraguay, Costa Rica and especially Panama, with decreases of 0.8% , 6.5% , 9.3% , and 73.3% , respectively.
The IDB report highlighted that the prices of the main commodities exported by Latin America and the Caribbean are on a downward trend, and this is expected to continue in a highly volatile environment.
In this regard, he pointed out that the price of soybeans fell by 22.1% in 2024, mainly due to the increase in global supply. Meanwhile, the price of sugar fell by 13.7% in that year.
Oil prices posted a slight negative trend throughout 2024, accumulating a contraction of 2.7% on average for the year. Iron ore prices fell by 9.2% in 2024 due to the weakness of the construction sector in China , and copper prices showed greater volatility, on average 9.4% above the level observed in 2023.
In 2024, the price of Arabica and Robusta coffee varieties was, on average, 57.7% higher than in 2023, placing the price at historic highs.
Regarding the volume of Latin American exports, the analysis estimated that in 2024 it will increase by 4% year-on-year, “marking an aggregate acceleration compared to the 2.6% average in 2023. The expansion responded mainly to the evolution of the volumes shipped by South American countries, which are estimated to have grown by 6.9 percent .”
The report predicts that looking ahead, trade performance in Latin America and the Caribbean is characterized by moderate growth prospects and high uncertainty.
Real global economic growth is expected to remain stable. However, the impact of the rebound in the region will be limited by the slowdown in China, the low level of activity in Europe and Latin America and weaker external demand compared to previous periods. “Although the region’s exports have overcome the contraction phase, there are still no signs of a sustained recovery,” the analysis detailed.
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