Paraguay’s exports increase 30.6% in first quarter 2023

Paraguay’s total exports to the first quarter of 2023 experienced a significant increase of 30.6 percent over the same period last year, according to the foreign trade report of the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) released Thursday.

According to the same, from January to March of this current year, shipments reached a value of 4,019.5 million dollars, compared to 3,077.7 million of the same currency recorded in the first three months of 2022, making transactions with a total of 114 countries that constituted the destinations of Paraguayan products.

As for imports, as of March 2023, these totaled 3,664.9 million dollars, an increase of 6.6 percent compared to the same period last year, and purchases were recorded in 121 countries that constituted the origin of the same.

Thus, after several months of deficit results, the trade balance obtained a surplus of 354.7 million dollars, 715.3 million dollars higher than the deficit recorded in the first three months of the previous year.

The official report of the Paraguayan parent bank indicates that during the first three months of 2023, transactions were carried out in the country’s foreign trade for US$7,684.4 million, representing an increase of 17.9 percent compared to the accumulated value as of March 2022.

Primary products experienced an increase of 1,077.0 thousand tons as of March 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year, representing a growth of 76.5 percent, with a total shipment of 2,484.7 thousand tons, in which soybeans and corn were the products that recorded the highest incidence in total exports in volume.

Similarly, fuel and energy exports increased by 30.2 percent, reaching a value of 394.9 million dollars, explained by the increase in the export levels of electric energy.

On the other hand, meat exports reached US$349.0 million, representing a decrease of 13 percent with respect to the US$400.9 million as of March of the previous year.