The main destinations were China (35% of the total), the United States (13%), the European Union (11%), Canada (5%) and India (5%).
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Elizabeth Galdo, said today that in the first half of the year, Peruvian exports grew 7.2% compared to the same period in 2023.
In this way, they reached US$ 33,046 million, boosting economic growth, or Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and generating important jobs in Peru, he indicated.
In June alone, exports grew by 11.6% year-on-year, reaching 6.032 billion dollars due to higher sales of fishery products (186%), thanks to the start of the first anchovy fishing season. Exports of agriculture (34.5%) and metallurgy (60.9%) also increased.
The increase in exports in the first half of the year was due to the combined increase in prices and volumes, with contributions from metal mining and agriculture standing out, which offset lower sales in fishing and hydrocarbons, the minister said.
In mining, the commodity that contributed most to export growth was gold, which reached 5.744 billion dollars (51.9%), due to an increase in the exported volume and price, which registered record values.
Copper exports (the country's leading export product) fell by 1.2% due to a reduction in export volume.
Dynamic agricultural exports
For its part, agricultural export shipments amounted to 4.486 billion dollars in the period from January to June, with an interannual growth of 12.5% thanks to higher cocoa sales (166%), which amounted to 430 million year-on-year and whose prices registered record values.
Following the record reached in 2023, fruit exports grew by 6.4% until June 2024, due to higher sales of blueberries (87.3%) and avocados (29.5%). Vegetable sales fell by 4.5%; although onion sales increased by 52.6%.
"This performance is a clear example of the importance of the sector for the development of the national economy. Economic growth and more employment are the result of the policy promoted by Mincetur," said the minister.
Regional exports
The minister highlighted that exports from 13 regions increased in the first half of the year.
The regions where exports grew were Puno (119%), Huánuco (70%), Loreto (39%), Ucayali (29%), Amazonas (26%), Tacna (24%), Pasco (22%), Moquegua (18%), La Libertad (12%), Ica (10%), Ancash (5%), San Martín (5%) and Ayacucho (0.1%).
Export boost
In the last 12 months (July 2023-June 2024) Peruvian exports reached 181 markets.
The Asian continent accounted for more than half of the exported value (52%), America 31% and Europe 16%.
The main export destinations were China (35% of the total), the United States (13%), the European Union (11%), Canada (5%) and India (5%). China was the main export destination for minerals (51%) and fishery products (43%). Agricultural goods (10.98 billion dollars) were mainly exported to the United States (35%) and the European Union (28%).
It should be noted that from January to June 2024, 7,266 exporters were registered, a figure 4.6% higher than the previous year.
Of the total, 30% of companies export agricultural products (2,211) and 16% export minerals (1,128). In addition, 4,860 MSMEs made shipments abroad (5.7% year-on-year), for a value of 1,402 million dollars (35.1% year-on-year). MSMEs represented 67% of the total number of exporting companies and 4% of the export value.
