As the authorities linked to foreign trade predicted, the commercial exchange in Argentina grew steadily in 2021 and left a surplus of 14,750 million dollars, after registering an increase of 17.7% compared to the 12,528 million dollars registered in 2020, according to the Institute National Statistics and Census (Indec).
In 2021, exports totaled 77,934 million dollars, with an advance in billing of 42% year-on-year, while imports reached 63,184 million dollars, with an increase of 49% compared to the previous year.
Exports recorded last year reached the highest peak in eight years, and were close to 79.982 million dollars in 2012. Meanwhile, the positive trade balance is the highest in the last decade.
Classified by large headings, sales abroad corresponded to primary products in 28%, to manufactures of agricultural origin in 39.7% of the values, and to industrial goods in 25.6 percent.
In another order, the analysis of external relations shows that Brazil was the main destination of Argentine exports, with 15% of sales, followed by China (8%) and the United States (6.4 percent). On the import side, China provided 21.4% of goods entering the country, Brazil 19.7%, and the United States 9.4 percent.
According to December data, the balance between purchases and sales abroad in the last month of the year left a positive balance for the country of 371 million dollars, which reversed the deficit result of 364 million dollars in the last month of 2020 .
In December, exports totaled 6,587 million dollars, with an interannual growth of 85.9%, while imports amounted to 6,261 million dollars, with an advance of 59.1 percent.
Meanwhile, in general terms, the increase in fluvial and maritime activity during 2021 associated with foreign trade in quantities transported in more than 13% is auspicious. This means 14 million tons more with reference to 2020, implying exports (loads) with a positive interannual variation of 13.33% and imports (unloads) of 14.22%, indicating a clear rebound of the Argentine economy.
However, it should be noted that in year-on-year terms the 2020 reference is very poor economically due to the effect of the pandemic. Therefore, if we want to see representative quantitative results, we must reference 2021 with 2019.