Chile Trade Surplus Widens in March 2026

Chile's trade surplus rose to $3.1 billion in March 2026 from $1.9 billion a year earlier. Exports rose 18% year-over-year to $10.3 billion, mainly driven by mining products at 24.8%, with copper shipments surging 14.1%. Other key contributors included lithium carbonate at 219.2% and gold at 139.1%. Industrial product sales rose 10.5%, while agricultural, forestry and fishing shipments fell 0.9%. Imports increased 5.8% to $7.2 billion, with intermediate goods purchases up 7.6%. Capital goods imports rose 6.2%, while consumer goods imports advanced 0.4%.

Chile’s trade surplus rose to $2.8 billion in February 2026 from $1.7 billion in the same month a year earlier. Exports climbed 15% year-on-year to $9.1 billion, mainly boosted by shipments of mining products (27.5%), including copper (16.3%). Other key contributors were lithium carbonate (up 264.3%), gold (143.8%), silver (131.2%), and iron (132.2%). Overseas sales also increased for manufactured products (5%) but declined for agricultural, forestry, and fishing goods (-21.8%). Meanwhile, imports rose by 2% to $6.3 billion, amid higher purchases of consumer goods (3.5%) and intermediate goods (1.1%).

Chile’s trade surplus widened to $3.8 billion in January 2026 from $2.7 billion a year earlier. Exports rose 8.5% year-on-year to $10.7 billion, supported by a 12.1% increase in mining shipments, driven by a 7.9% rise in copper exports. Industrial goods exports climbed 13.9%, while shipments from the agricultural, forestry and fishing sector fell 8.3%. Imports declined 3.8% year-on-year to $6.9 billion, as purchases of consumer goods fell 3.6% and intermediate goods dropped 9.7%. In contrast, imports of capital goods rose 11.4%. On a month-over-month basis, the trade surplus increased 6%.