Export Value of Latin American Goods to Fall 2 Percent in 2023

ECLAC Executive Secretary Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs said at the launch of a report on the region's international trade outlook that the challenge remains to diversify and refine the export basket to reduce excessive dependence on raw materials, especially in South America.

The region will see a 3 percent increase in export volume, but that will not be enough "to offset" the 5 percent decline in the price of export products, the report said.

According to the document, the value of import goods will fall 6 percent, a figure that reflects "the weakness of regional economic activity," with forecast growth of just 1.7 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.

"It is critical to deepen regional integration" amid increasing regionalization of world trade, ECLAC recommended, as this will reduce "vulnerability in a more uncertain global trade environment" and generate "efficient scales of production for the region's industries."

Weak world trade is the result of the "slowdown of the global economy" due to high interest rates in the United States and Europe, as well as growing geopolitical tensions, the report stated.

4155/v