Chile’s economic activity grew in July by 1.8% after five months of declines, and that is mainly explained by services, particularly education, and to a lesser extent by goods, the Central Bank reported.
This is the first positive figure recorded by the monthly index that brings together 90% of the country’s goods and services and is considered an advance of GDP, after five months of setbacks and having fallen 1% in June, 2% in May, 1.1% in April, -2.1% in March, and 0.5% in February.
“The seasonally adjusted series increased 0.3% compared to the previous month and grew 1.8% in twelve months,” the Central Bank said.
“Services grew by 3.9% year-over-year, determined by education services, a result that was explained by an additional week of school holidays recorded in July 2022,” the Central Bank said.
“The production of goods grew 3%, while trade presented a fall of 2.5% in annual terms due to lower sales in supermarkets, department stores, and specialized food establishments,” the Central explained.
The Chilean economy recovered faster than expected after the pandemic, with an increase of 11.7% in 2021, but in 2022 it began to slow down and closed with a rise of 2.4%.
