A. M. 
Foreign trade in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) continues to show moderate but sustained expansion, in line with the recovery of global trade, according to the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) annual report.
According to the report, after growing 4.1% in 2024, the region’s aggregate exports increased by 4.3% in the first half of 2025, reflecting a more dynamic international environment, although with signs of a slowdown in some markets.
The report highlights that global trade growth has boosted regional export performance, especially to key trading partners. Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) exports to the United States accelerated their growth, rising from 5.3% to 5.8%, while shipments to the European Union showed a significant rebound, increasing from 4.6% to 8.2%. This performance contributed positively to export growth in almost all subregional blocks.
However, the IDB notes that overall extra-regional exports lost momentum, slowing from 5.1% to 4.6%, mainly due to the sharp drop in shipments to the rest of the world, which went from growing 12.0% to 4.5%, and the continued contraction of exports to China, which registered declines of -3.0% in 2024 and -1.1% in 2025. This decline was largely influenced by the weak performance of MERCOSUR, only partially offset by increased shipments from other blocks.
One positive element identified by the report is the recovery of intraregional trade, which reversed the contraction observed in 2024 thanks to the rebound in MERCOSUR and the Caribbean region, although this was moderated by slower growth in the Pacific Alliance and the Andean Community. At the regional level, the intraregional trade ratio stood at 13.5% in 2024, although it declined slightly to 13.1% in the first half of 2025, due to stronger sales outside the region.
By bloc, intraregional trade weakened in the Pacific Alliance, the Andean Community, and the Caribbean during the first half of 2025, while MERCOSUR registered a slight increase. In this context, the Caribbean and MERCOSUR remain the most significant blocs for intraregional trade, with shares of 22.3% and 11.4%, respectively.
Overall, the IDB report concludes that, although global trade has favored export growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025, performance remains uneven across destinations and trade blocs. Strengthening ties with the United States and the European Union, along with the reactivation of intraregional trade, emerges as a key factor for sustaining the region’s export growth in an international context still marked by challenges.
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