Peru’s economy grew by 3.69% in April, but mining stoppage slows recovery

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to economic results, the Peruvian economy registered a year-on-year advance of 3.8% in the first four months of the year, while in the last 12 months through April, national production increased by 9.88%.

The Peruvian economy grew by 3.69% year-on-year in April, the government said Wednesday, slightly less compared to the previous two months because the advance was contained by the stoppage of two major copper mines due to community protests.

The figure compares with a 59.25% expansion in the same month of 2021, a high base for comparison when the country’s major industries began full operations after nearly a year of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Andean country had grown 4.88% in February and 3.79% year-on-year in March this year, in a sign of recovery in the economy of the world’s second-largest copper producer.

With April’s result, the local economy registered an advance of 3.80% year-on-year in the first four months of the year, while in the last 12 months up to April, national production increased by 9.88%, the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) said in a statement.

The construction and manufacturing sectors, which provide the most jobs in the country, sustained the economy’s growth in April, with advances of 4.90% and 2.71%, respectively, due to the recovery of residential works and greater activity in the non-primary industry, INEI said.

However, the institute said that activity in the key mining and hydrocarbons sector fell 0.77% in April, its third consecutive monthly decline, mainly due to lower production of copper, gold, zinc, silver, and lead.

The operation of Southern Copper’s Cuajone copper mine was suspended in March and most of April due to a blockade amid a protest by a neighboring community; while the Las Bambas mine, owned by China’s MMG Ltd, began a stoppage that month due to another social conflict that ended only last week.

Mining is vital to Peru’s economy because it represents 60% of its total exports.

Another sector that affected April’s result was the performance of fishing, which fell 37.47% year-on-year due to a sharp drop in the catch of anchovy, the basic input for the production of fishmeal.

The Peruvian economy grew by 13.31% in 2021, the highest rate since the central bank’s records and after a contraction of 11.03% the previous year due to the pandemic.

With information from Reuters