Chilean economy falls 0.3 % in April and grows 6.9 % year-on-year

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Chilean economy registered a 0.3 % drop in April compared to the previous month and grew by 6.9 % year-on-year, which remained within the range expected by experts, mainly driven by the services area, Chile’s Central Bank informed on Wednesday.

“The seasonally adjusted series presented a 0.3% drop compared to the previous month and an 8.2% increase in twelve months. The month registered one working day less than April 2021,” the issuing entity indicated through a statement.

The Monthly Economic Activity Indicator (Imacec), an index that gathers 91% of the goods and services of the gross domestic product (GDP), was projected by analysts to be between 5.8% and 8.5% for April, considering the 6.4% inter-annual growth of the economy in March.

“The increase in the Imacec was mainly explained by services activities and commerce to a lesser extent. Meanwhile, the production of goods fell, affected by mining,” added the autonomous agency.

According to the Central Bank, the production of goods fell by 4.7%, a result explained by “the performance of mining, which decreased by 9.3%”. The rest of the goods and manufacturing industry registered drops of 1.2 % and 1 %, respectively.

“In seasonally adjusted terms, the production of goods fell 1.8 % compared to the previous month. This result was determined by the performance of all its components, particularly mining,” the institution added.

On the other hand, commercial activity registered a 9.9% growth, driven by retail sales, “particularly in specialized clothing, footwear, and household equipment establishments and department stores”.

The services area grew even more strongly, resulting in 13.2%. In addition to personal services, “transportation, business services, and restaurants and hotels” contributed to this growth.

The pandemic, which has already left more than 3.7 million people infected and more than 57,000 dead, is beginning to recede after a massive spike in infections in January and February due to the omicron variant’s rapid spread, although with some increases in various territories. The country did not impose new mobility restrictions.

With information from EFE