Browse Data and Analysis

In marketing year (MY) 2022/23, FAS Santiago estimates that table grape production will decrease by 8.6 percent reaching 720,000 metric tons and that exports will decrease by 8.7 percent, totaling 555,000 metric tons.

Chile has a modern and developed food and beverage processing industry. The Chilean food sector is the second most relevant export sector in the country after mining.

In marketing year (MY) 2023/24, Post forecasts wheat area harvested will reach 215,000 hectares (ha) and production will total 1.32 million metric tons (MMT), unchanged from MY 2022/23 as production was limited by the high costs of inputs.

The wine production area in Chile spans from the Atacama to Araucania region, with vineyards scattered up and down the regions’ valleys. Chilean area planted for wine totaled 130,086 hectares in 2021.

In February, wildfires ravaged central Chile throughout the the Maule, Biobio, Ñuble, and Araucania regions. The fires expanded quickly due to high temperatures and windy conditions, causing loss of lives, destruction of homes, and damage to basic infrastructure.

In 2021, the Chilean economy grew by 11.7 percent. Government support programs increased disposable income for many consumers, putting upward pressure on consumption of beef, pork, and chicken.

After a nearly six percent decrease in GDP in 2020, the Chilean economy grew by 11.7 percent in 2021 and by 2.4 percent in 2022. In 2023, the Chilean Central Bank projects a contraction in GDP that will range between 0.75 and 1.75 percent.

Blueberry area planted went from around 7,000 hectares (ha) in marketing year (MY) 2010/11 to over 18,000 ha in MY 2021/22. The United States is the top market for Chilean fresh and frozen blueberries, receiving more than half of the Chilean export volume.

With solid political institutions, a stable macroeconomic environment, and well-functioning financial markets, Chile ranks amongst the highest nations in competitiveness in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the IMD (World Competitiveness Ranking, 2022).

In marketing year (MY) 2021/22, citrus yields decreased due to frost during the winter in the Valparaíso, Metropolitana, and O’Higgins regions. FAS Santiago estimates lemon production to decrease by 30 percent to 140,000 metric tons (MT) in MY 2021/22 and to bounce back to 200,000 metric tons in MY 2022/23, assuming normal yields.

This report provides an overview of Chile’s current Sanitary Regulation for food Products (RSA by its name in Spanish), as well as any other regulation with the potential of disrupting food trade.

This report lists and describes certificates and other documents that must accompany food and agricultural imports to Chile as required by Chilean regulations. Three new certificates were developed since the last version of this report, one for vampire bats, one for breeding swine, and one for hedgehogs. This report outlines the certificates that need to accompany all imports of food products to Chile.