Chile: Economic activity records largest drop in over one year in September

Economic activity dropped 0.4% year on year in September (August: -0.0% yoy). The result marked the worst reading since February 2021. Looking at the details of the release, the mining sector declined at a softer rate in September, while the non-mining sector swung to contraction.

On a monthly basis, economic activity grew 0.2% in seasonally adjusted terms in September, which was below August’s 0.5% expansion. Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with the annual average growth of economic activity coming in at an over one-year low of 6.2% in September, down from August's 7.4%.

Economic activity data for Q3 as a whole suggests a 1.0% quarter-on-quarter contraction in the period, due to a broad-based decline in activity across both the mining and non-mining sectors.

FocusEconomics panelists see GDP growing 2.1% in 2022, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. In 2023, GDP is seen contracting 0.5%.