Imports have also had a similar behavior, although the drop has been only 13.8%.
As of the first four months of this year in Bolivia, the value of sales to the foreign market (exports) has registered a decrease of 25.2% compared to the same period in 2023. Imports have also had a similar behavior, although the drop has been only 13.8%.
According to the latest report from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), from January to April of this year, Bolivia sold products worth US$2,733.9 million to the foreign market, 25.2% less than the US$ 3,656.6 million sold in the same period of 2023.
This behavior has generated a trade deficit of US$ 460.1 million, much higher than the US$ 49.6 million reported in the first quarter of the last administration. In other words, the negative trade balance has grown nine times in this period.
For the state office, this result is a reflection of the “effects of the international economic context and other internal factors, such as climate change and road blockades that persist in the country, although in the last month it has shown a slight recovery.”
Exports
Three products have had a greater impact on the decline in exports: metallic gold, soy derivatives and natural gas. Sales of the former have plummeted by 73%, of the latter by 39% and of the latter by 21%, according to INE data.
The case that draws the most attention is the export of metallic gold. Between January and April 2023, sales of this product in the foreign market reached US$ 1,047.4 million compared to the US$ 279.2 million sold in the same period this year. The collapse in sales, of US$ 768.2 million, is one of the main factors to understand the abrupt drop in the value of national exports.
Since 2021, metallic gold has displaced natural gas as the main export product. The precious metal is mainly exported to India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong (autonomous territory of China), Turkey, Italy, Canada and the United States. The metal is sold in presentations of ingots, molten gold and amalgamated gold.
