According to Subrei, this is the highest export value -for a single month- since records began, achieving an increase of 10.4% compared to January 2024.
In January 2025, Chilean exports climbed to US$ 10,431 million, showing an increase of 10.4% compared to January 2024 (+US$ 983 million), recording the highest export value -for a single month- since records began.
This was revealed in an advance of the first Monthly Trade Report prepared by the Research Department of the Undersecretariat of International Economic Relations (Subrei) of Chile, with data from the Central Bank and the National Customs Service.
Undersecretary for International Economic Relations Claudia Sanhueza said that “the strong increase in exports has been supported by increases in shipments of copper, fresh fruit, food, wine and industrial products.”
In this regard, he added that “despite the challenging context of international trade, we once again have record figures in the value of exports, increasing by 10.4% compared to the previous year in both traditional and non-traditional exports and in services.”
“We believe that the diversification of the export basket is essential for the productive development of the country and the economies of each of our regions. Therefore, we will continue working between the public and private sectors in order to face the challenges imposed by an international scenario with different sources of uncertainty,” said Sanhueza.
By sector, mining recorded exports of US$ 4,793 million, which shows an increase of 13.5% compared to January 2024. The sector's momentum was led by copper with operations for US$ 4,051 million, recording an increase of 15.8% (+US$ 554 million). Other mining shipments also increased: gold added shipments for US$ 296 million (+157%; +US$ 181 million) and silver, for its part, with sales abroad for US$ 51 million (+15.7%; +US$ 7 million).
Another story was lithium carbonate, which recorded shipments of US$ 193 million, 36% less than in January 2024 (-US$ 108 million). However, mining as a whole started the year representing 45.9% of the country's shipments.
The fruit sector, meanwhile, started the year with returns of US$ 2.66 billion, the highest value reached by the sector -for a single month- since records began. Shipments in January 2025 are 14.7% higher than the same period in 2024 (+US$ 342 million), representing 25.5% of local exports.
The sector's growth was led by fresh cherries, which recorded shipments abroad of US$ 2,278 million, showing an increase of 20.8% compared to the first month of 2024 (+US$ 392 million), accounting for 21.8% of the country's exports in the first month of the year. Other fresh fruits with increasing shipments were avocados, lemons, apples, nectarines, cranberries, pears and sarsaparillas.
Processed foods totaled shipments of US$ 1,183 million, recording a 0.6% increase compared to January 2024 (+US$ 7 million), driven by the increase in foreign sales of canned mussels, frozen fruit and poultry meat. Salmon reached shipments of US$ 639 million, recording a slight decrease of 1.7% (-US$ 11 million).
Organic foods exported US$ 59 million, showing a 30% increase compared to the first month of 2024 (+US$ 13.7 million). The sector's growth was supported by the increase in shipments of fresh and frozen blueberries, frozen blackberries, red wine blends, frozen raspberries, bottled wines of the Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon blanc and Carmenère varieties, and maqui in juice and freeze-dried formats.
Wine shipments climbed to US$ 145 million, showing a growth of 4.4% compared to January 2024 (+US$ 6 million), driven by growth in shipments of bottled blends, Sauvignon blanc, rosé and Pinot noir wines.
The forestry industry, meanwhile, totaled shipments worth US$ 572 million, up 4% compared to the same period last year (+US$ 22 million), with a sustained boost in growing shipments of cellulose (+26.3%; +US$ 65 million) and cardboard (+4.9%; +US$ 2 million), which largely offset the decline in shipments of sawn wood (-16.6%; -US$ 11 million) and plywood (-27.9%; -US$ 10 million).
