Year over year, South America’s most recent total for its exported products accelerated by 15% from $616.1 billion during 2021.
To give some global perspective, exports from all countries worldwide equaled $24.487 trillion in 2022, growing 26.7% in value compared to 2018 and appreciating by 10.6% from 2021 to 2022. Therefore, the value of South American exports beat the average year-over-year increase for all countries.
To give further context, South American exports in 2022 represents an estimated 2.9% of the world’s exported goods. That percentage reflects an upturn from 2.8% one year earlier in 2021.
Calculated using statistics from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database, the aggregate Gross Domestic Product for all South American countries (on a Purchasing Power Parity basis) amounted to roughly $7.929 trillion for 2022.
Therefore, exports accounted for approximately 8.9% of South America’s total economic output for 2022, up from 8.8% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing importance of exports on South America’s economic performance.
Given South America’s population of 442.3 million people, the $708.3 billion in South American exports for 2022 translates to roughly $1,600 for every person living on the continent. That metric reflects an advance from the average $1,400 in exports per capita in 2021.
Top South American Export Countries
Below are the South American export countries sorted in order by those attained the highest dollar value in global shipments during 2022. Also shown is each country’s overall share of South American exports plus the change in value year over year.
| Rank | SA Entity | Value (US$) | %Total | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | $334,463,079,000 | 47.2% | +19.1% |
| 2 | Chile | $102,625,791,000 | 14.5% | +10.5% |
| 3 | Argentina | $88,268,232,000 | 12.5% | +13.4% |
| 4 | Peru | $58,172,424,000 | 8.21% | +3.4% |
| 5 | Colombia | $38,950,952,000 | 5.5% | -3.8% |
| 6 | Ecuador | $35,380,362,000 | 5% | +34.7% |
| 7 | Paraguay | $9,953,999,000 | 1.41% | -5.1% |
| 8 | Bolivia | $13,652,813,000 | 1.9% | +23.8% |
| 9 | Uruguay | $11,190,032,000 | 1.6% | +17.3% |
| 10 | Venezuela | $4,762,567,000 | 0.7% | +32.4% |
| 11 | Guyana | $7,866,427,000 | 1.1% | +85.4% |
| 12 | Suriname | $2,579,355,000 | 0.4% | +12.6% |
| 13 | Falkland Is (Malvinas) | $402,796,000 | 0.06% | +19.8% |
Collectively, South America’s top 3 export countries (Brazil, Chile, Argentina) generated almost three-quarters (74.2%) of the overall value for all goods shipped from that continent in 2022.
The value of Brazil’s shipments approached half (47.2%) of all exports from South America. The most valuable Brazilian exports include soya beans, crude oil, iron ores and concentrates, refine petroleum oils and corn.
The South American countries that grew the value of their international trade shipments at the fastest pace were Guyana (up 85.4% from 2021), Ecuador (up 34.7%), Venezuela (up 32.4%), Bolivia (up 23.8%), Falkland Islands also known as Malvinas (up 19.8%) and Brazil (up 19.1%).
There was a pair of decliners from 2021 to 2022, namely Paraguay (down -5.1%) and Colombia (down -3.8%).
See also Argentina’s Top 10 Exports, Brazil’s Top 10 Exports, Chile’s Top Trade Partners and Guyana’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports and World Population. Accessed on August 26, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 26, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 26, 2023
Wikipedia, Economy of Venezuela. Accessed on August 26, 2023
Wikipedia, List of South American countries by population. Accessed on August 26, 2023
WorldOMeter, South America Population. Accessed on August 26, 2023
