Drafting
During the first quarter of this year, the Tarapacá region recorded the highest index (9.07%) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country, according to the Central Bank.
The Minister of Economy of Tarapacá, Jorge Julio, assured that these results are “very good news, and that it reflects what we have said on other occasions: that the economic structure of Tarapacá is super solid and is in the process of recovery and growth starting in 2024”.
“I think it is important to point out that although the main item that leads this growth is mining, all the rest of the item also shows growth, highlighting items such as construction and commerce that had been more contracted and that today are already presenting very good figures” Julio explained.
For the authority, these statistics also reflect the increase in household consumption of 1.9%, which – in his opinion – would reflect that consumption is reactivating and moving to other services in the economy.
After Tarapacá, the Central Bank specified that other regions with good GDP growth in the first quarter were: Antofagasta (7.84), Maule (4.58) and Ñuble (4%). Meanwhile, the Aysén region was the only region that registered a drop of -9.7 in its GDP.
Guilds
The unions of the region valued these data provided by the Central Bank. They assure that this shows the rebound that Tarapacá is having in economic matters.
“Indeed, the region led growth at the national level during the first quarter of 2024, with a cumulative expansion of 9.1%, which is great news for Tarapacá and its people. As the Central Bank report warns, There were several productive sectors whose performance explains this regional growth, highlighting the contribution of sectors such as mining and construction, among others. In addition, there is the rebound shown by disaggregated consumption at the household level, which contributed an increase of 1.9. % and that it rebounded after several months of decline,” said Marcos Gómez, general manager of the Iquique Industrialists Association.
The union leader expects this trend to continue in the coming years, “for which an important portfolio of investment projects has been announced that will surely help the region maintain a sustained growth rate and a rate of generation of formal jobs that have yet to regain their dynamism”.
Along the same lines, Mariana Toledo, regional president (i) of the Chilean Chamber of Construction Tarapacá, reviewed the results and recalled that construction largely contributed to this increase in the Gross Domestic Product.
“According to the report MACh 65: Balance – Projections 2024 Chilean Chamber of Construction, based on statistics from the Central Bank, the GDP growth recorded in the Tarapacá region is mainly due to the positive results in the construction and construction sectors. Mining Construction represents 16% of regional GDP and mining 29%, with 97.9% of spending on productive infrastructure allocated to mining. These key sectors have significantly boosted the economy, partly offsetting the declines seen in mining. manufacturing industry and fishing
For his part, Rafael Montes, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism of Iquique, commented that the increase in the Gross Domestic Product at the national level, “reflects a gradual improvement of our economy and, if in addition our region has one of the largest increases of GDP, means that it is within greater trade movement of employment needs and, consequently, greater growth. The ideal is that these results be maintained over time in order to ensure growth and investment, to ensure growth. recover economic stability.”
9.07% is the GDP index in the Tarapacá Region during the first quarter of 2024.
