Bolivia achieves historic import record with US$13.049 billion in 2022

Bolivia reached a historical import figure in 2022 of US$13.049 billion, the private Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE) reported Thursday.

IBCE’s technical manager, María Peña, said that imports broke a historical record after eight years when in 2014, it reached its highest figure with US$10.676 billion of external purchases in value.

According to the expert, fuels, lubricants, and industrial supplies they boosted external purchases in value due to the rise in the international price of crude oil.

“These figures show that the dynamism of the Bolivian economy is consistent with the economic growth and positive indicators that have been registered to date in the country,” he said.

According to data from the state-run National Statistics Institute (INE), exports to December 2022 show an increase of 23 percent, reaching US$13.653 billion, US$2.573 billion more than that recorded in the same period of 2021.

On the other hand, imports as of December 2022 show a 36 percent increase in value, reaching US$13.049 billion, US$3.431 billion more than that recorded in 2021.

Peña stated that capital goods, industrial supplies, and transportation equipment represented 52 percent of foreign purchases.