01Key Takeaways
- Chile exported $92.96 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 5.7% from $98.56 billion in 2022.
- China absorbed 38.3% of that total, worth $35.59 billion, more than double the value bought by the next largest buyer.
- The USA and Japan followed at 15.5% ($14.45 billion) and 7.4% ($6.84 billion); the top three buyers made up 61.2% of export value.
- Ores, slag, and ash led export categories at 29.8% ($27.72 billion); combined with refined copper at 21.2% ($19.68 billion), copper in its various forms accounts for more than half of everything Chile exports.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $68.8B | $74.0B | $94.7B | $98.6B | $93.0B |
03Top Export Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $35.6B | 38.3% |
| 2 | United States | $14.4B | 15.5% |
| 3 | Japan | $6.8B | 7.4% |
| 4 | South Korea | $5.7B | 6.1% |
| 5 | Brazil | $4.2B | 4.6% |
| 6 | Mexico | $1.7B | 1.8% |
| 7 | Netherlands | $1.7B | 1.8% |
| 8 | Peru | $1.6B | 1.7% |
| 9 | India | $1.5B | 1.6% |
| 10 | Bolivia | $1.4B | 1.5% |
04Top Export Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ores, Slag and Ash | $27.7B | 29.8% |
| 2 | Copper and Articles thereof | $19.7B | 21.2% |
| 3 | Inorganic Chemicals; Organic or Inorganic Compounds of Precious Metals, of Rare-Earth Metals, of Radioactive Elements or of Isotopes | $7.9B | 8.5% |
| 4 | Edible Fruit and Nuts; Peel of Citrus Fruit or Melons | $7.5B | 8.1% |
| 5 | Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and other Aquatic Invertebrates | $7.3B | 7.8% |
| 6 | Pulp of Wood or of other Fibrous Cellulosic Material; Recovered (Waste and Scrap) Paper or Paperboard | $2.8B | 3.0% |
| 7 | Wood and Articles of Wood; Wood Charcoal | $2.2B | 2.4% |
| 8 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $1.7B | 1.9% |
| 9 | Beverages, Spirits and Vinegar | $1.6B | 1.7% |
| 10 | Natural or Cultured Pearls, Precious or Semi-Precious Stones, Precious Metals, Metals Clad with Precious Metal, and Articles thereof; Imitation Jewellery; Coin | $1.6B | 1.7% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
China's Copper Appetite Dominates Chile's Export Market
Chile shipped $92.96 billion worth of goods abroad in 2023, down 5.7% from $98.56 billion the year before. China absorbed 38.3% of that total, worth $35.59 billion, more than double the value bought by the next largest destination. U.S. trade officials note that Chile is the world's top copper producer, accounting for roughly a quarter of global output, and China's enormous manufacturing, construction, and electronics base makes it the natural buyer for a country whose export list is this heavily weighted toward copper ore, concentrate, and refined metal. That relationship gives Chile's overall trade performance an unusually direct link to the pace of Chinese industrial activity, since a slowdown in Chinese construction or manufacturing tends to show up quickly in demand, and therefore prices, for the raw material Chile produces more of than any other country on earth.
United States ranked second at 15.5% ($14.45 billion), and Japan followed at 7.4% ($6.84 billion). Together, China, the USA, and Japan, the top three buyers, account for 61.2% of total export value. South Korea added 6.1% ($5.70 billion), Brazil 4.6% ($4.24 billion), Mexico 1.8% ($1.69 billion), the Netherlands a nearly identical 1.8% ($1.66 billion), Peru 1.7% ($1.56 billion), India 1.6% ($1.50 billion), and Bolivia rounded out the top ten at 1.5% ($1.42 billion).
Copper, Lithium, and Fruit Define What Chile Sells
Ores, slag, and ash, a category dominated by copper concentrate, led all export categories in 2023, worth $27.72 billion and accounting for 29.8% of total value. Copper and articles thereof, the refined form of the same metal, ranked second at 21.2% ($19.68 billion). Combined, these two copper-related categories make up 51.0% of everything Chile sells abroad, more than every other category put together. Inorganic chemicals ranked third at 8.5% ($7.93 billion), a category that includes lithium compounds. Research on the country's lithium industry notes that Chile is the world's second-largest lithium producer, with output extracted through evaporation from brines pumped up from the Salar de Atacama salt flat, a process that takes months as the brine sits in shallow ponds under the desert sun before the lithium can be concentrated and processed further.
Fruit and nuts added 8.1% ($7.50 billion), reflecting Chile's role as a major counter-seasonal supplier of fresh grapes, cherries, and other produce to Northern Hemisphere markets during their winter months, and fish and crustaceans contributed 7.8% ($7.29 billion), tied to the country's large salmon farming industry, which has grown into one of the biggest in the world along Chile's southern fjords and channels. Wood pulp added 3.0% ($2.80 billion), and wood and wood articles a further 2.4% ($2.21 billion), both linked to Chile's sizable forestry sector. Mineral fuels contributed 1.9% ($1.75 billion), beverages and spirits, largely wine, 1.7% ($1.56 billion), and precious stones and metals rounded out the top ten at 1.7% ($1.56 billion).
A Post-Pandemic Commodity Boom, Then a Pullback
Chile's export total climbed for three straight years before easing in 2023. It stood at $68.79 billion in 2019, then rose to $74.02 billion in 2020, an unusual increase during a year when global trade broadly contracted, reflecting how resilient copper demand and prices proved even amid pandemic disruption. Exports then jumped to $94.68 billion in 2021 as commodity prices climbed further, reached a five-year high of $98.56 billion in 2022, and eased 5.7% to $92.96 billion in 2023 as copper prices came down from their peak.
With copper in its various forms accounting for more than half of export value and a single buyer absorbing well over a third of the total, Chile's export figures are closely tied to both the health of China's manufacturing economy and the direction of global copper prices, factors that lie almost entirely outside the country's own control. That dependence has pushed Chilean policymakers to talk publicly about diversifying trade relationships and adding value domestically, such as processing more copper into finished products before export, though the underlying reserves and infrastructure built up over many decades of large-scale mining mean any meaningful shift away from raw and semi-refined ore is likely to take years rather than months. For a closer look at how individual partner countries or product categories break down year over year, the data panels above provide the full detail behind these figures.