43% of Latin American companies increased their exports, according to the IDB

43% of companies in Latin America and the Caribbean increased their foreign sales in year-on-year terms in the first quarter of the year, which reveals that exporting firms in the region were able to maintain the growth achieved in 2021, despite the difficult economic context, according to the ‘Survey of Latin American and Caribbean exporting firms’ prepared by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (Intal).

However, one in three companies stated that the inflation has affected its export evolution, blaming, among others, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Likewise, 90% of the companies opted to take measures to improve their export performance, the most common strategy among companies being the search for new international destinations (in 17% of cases).

Along the same lines, the percentage of companies that declared having the Latin American region as their destination went from 49% in 2021 to 60% in the first quarter of this year, while firms that have a single international destination for their goods fell. and services (from 40% in 2020 to 17% in 2021).

In addition, there is evidence of a growing interest in signing new trade agreements in 80% of the companies surveyed, compared to 67% in 2021, with the main focus on reaching agreements with a country in the region.

Moderation of export expectations

Looking to the future, 43% of the companies stated that they had growth expectations for their exports, which is a “high” figure, but lower than the previous year by 14 percentage points. Meanwhile, 27% said that their exports would fall, 16% that they will remain and 13% are uncertain as to their evolution.

For their part, despite the uncertainty of the international context, 73% of Latin American companies expect to increase their export-oriented investments, while only 9% believe that they will reduce this item in the next three years. Among the reasons, 23% referred to the interest in increasing the already consolidated exportable supply and 21% appreciated an increase in international demand.