Archive:Chile-EU - statistical indicators and trade figures
- Data from April 2011, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article compares recent basic statistics for Chile and the European Union (EU). The Republic of Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations. Endowed with mineral wealth, it is rich in agricultural resources, forests and grazing lands. Chile has one of the world’s most productive marine ecosystems.
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The European Union and Chile signed an Association Agreement in 2002 which came into force in 2003 and has since made a positive contribution to trade between the two partners. The EU is Chile’s second main partner for both goods imports and exports. Chile’s economy displayed robustness in the face of recent adversity: the world recession, a large drop in the price of copper, as well as the second-strongest earthquake in the country’s history in February 2010.
Main statistical findings
Copper: close to a third of Chile’s exports to EU-27 – size of Chile’s fish catch similar to that of the EU-27
In 2010, the EU-27 imported goods worth EUR 9.3 billion from Chile (+25 % compared to 2009) and exported goods valued EUR 6.0 million (+32 %). The EU’s trade deficit with Chile remains considerably influenced by world copper prices.
Chile's total fish catches in 2009 amounted to 4.6 million tonnes, close to the 5.0 million tonnes recorded for the EU-27. Its structure is however quite different.
Chile occupies a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean. It is 4 300 km long, 175 km wide on average, and covers an area of 756 950 km2, equivalent to 17.2 % of the EU-27’s surface area. In 2010, Chile counted 17.1 million inhabitants.
Its population density was 22.6 persons per km2, similar to that of Sweden, the EU-27’s second least-densely populated Member State. The population is younger than that of the EU-27 as 22.3 % were aged under 15 in 2010 compared with 15.6 % in the EU-27 in 2009 (see Table 1 for selected basic indicators).
In Chile, GDP grew robustly from 2000 to 2010 (average annual growth rate of 3.7%), considerably faster than that of the EU-27 (average annual growth rate of 1.3 % – see Figure 1). The GDP per capita (USD current price, PPS) of Chile was equivalent to 42 % of that of the EU-27, in 2000 (Fig. 2). That ratio rose steadily to reach 46 % in 2009.
From mid-2002 to end-2008, the consumer price index grew at an average annual rate of 4.1 % in Chile compared with 2.3 % in the EU-27.
Universal health care is provided by both the public and the private sector in Chile and the EU. As a share of GDP, Chile’s government expenditure on both health and education were lower than in the EU-27.
While similar shares of household expenditure were spent on food & beverages in both Chile and the EU-27, in Chile, a smaller share was spent on housing and water, etc. Chile’s population displayed a slightly higher economic activity rate than the EU-27, due especially to the higher activity rate of men. Whilst comparing the spring quarters for each area (2nd quarter in the Northern and 3rd quarter in the Southern hemisphere), it can be noted that in 2010, the unemployment rate in Chile (8.0 %) was well under that of the EU-27 (9.5 %).
Goods international trade
Drop in value of EU-27 imports from Chile, stable EU-27 exports
Chile has actively liberalised trade. A free trade agreement with the European Union became effective in 2003. Chile became a Member of the WTO in early 1995 and, in May 2010, it became the first South American country to join the OECD. Chile is also a member of Mercosur and APEC.
In 2009, Chile’s total external trade in goods (exports plus imports) was equivalent to 58.4 % of its GDP. This is a high level when compared with the European Union's rate of 19.5 % (excluding intra-EU trade).
The EU-27 was Chile’s second main partner for goods exports in 2010 (18.0 % of total f.o.b. merchandise exports, USD) after China (23.2 %). The EU-27 also occupied second position as the source of Chile's imports standing at 15.5%, following the USA 16.8 % of total c.i.f. merchandise imports, USD (data not shown).
The value in EUR of EU-27 imports from and exports to Chile are depicted in Figure 3, from 2000 to 2010. The bilateral goods trade is characterised by a higher value of exports from Chile than from the EU-27, especially during the years of strong economic growth (2003 to 2008).
Reflecting the high proportion of Chilean goods exports accounted for by copper as well as inelastic EU-27 demand (due to a lack of copper substitutes), the value of Chilean exports was marked by the rise in copper prices on international markets, which took place from around mid-2003 to mid-2006.
Figures 4 and 5 detail EU-27 imports from Chile and EU-27 exports to Chile respectively, in 2010, to SITC (1-digit) Section level.
Manufactured goods (44 %) and crude materials (25 %) accounted for the main shares of EU-27 imports from Chile. The former consisted almost entirely of non-ferrous metal products, while the latter comprised close to two thirds of metalliferous ores and metal scrap. Further detailing shows that EU-27 imports of non-ferrous metal products from Chile in 2010 consisted almost entirely of copper products, while 72% of the imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap were copper ores and concentrates, copper mattes, cement copper, and 27 % ores and concentrates of base metals.
Food and live animals made up the third largest category of EU-27 imports from Chile (17 %), two thirds of which were vegetables and fruit (ripening during the European winter) and one sixth fish, crustaceans and molluscs and preparations thereof. Fisheries are focused on hereafter.
The fourth largest category, beverages and tobacco, contributed 6 % to the EU-27’s total goods imports from Chile in 2010. Imports in that section consisted almost entirely (98%) of wine.
Machinery and transport equipment accounted for over half of the EU-27’s exports to Chile (53 %). Three quarters of these products were road vehicles, general and specialised industrial machinery, equipment and parts, as well as other transport equipment.
Tables 2 and 3 respectively detail the top ten products at SITC Division level (2-digit) imported by the EU-27 from Chile and exported by the EU-27 to Chile, in 2010.
Labour market
Traditionally low activity rate of Chilean women now rising
Over the past two decades economic progress has included many positive effects on the labour market. The latter shows some particularities, however. The participation of Chilean women in the employment market has long been very low, even when fertility rates dropped. As it is difficult for a country to sustain high economic growth rates with such a low female labour force, women’s activity rates have been increasing, from 34.7 % in 2000 to 40.9 % in 2009. The substantially higher value displayed in 2010 (45.7 %) may partly be attributed to a conceptual change in the Chilean Labour force survey. Based on the 2009 figure, the women’s activity rate of the EU-27 was higher by around 10 percentage points. On the other hand a slight decline in male activity rates over the same period can be observed although Chile’s values are consistently over those of the EU-27.
Chile’s unemployment rate has been generally in decline since 2000 (from 10.7 % in 2000 to 7.8 % in 2008); but this positive trend, although appearing to benefit men more than women, halted in 2009 due to the worldwide financial and economic crises. The 2010 figures however suggest a fast recovery whereas the rates for the EU-27 still display an upward trend.
Youth unemployment (age group 15-24) is as much an issue for Chile as it is for the EU. The corresponding rates during the last decade were higher in Chile, especially among young women. A sharp drop is noticed in Chile for 2010; this could be due to a special programme launched during the global economic crisis, especially targeted towards younger workers (recruitment incentives and wage subsidies for the hiring of 18-to-24 year olds) although the 2010 figure may also be affected by the changes to the Chilean Survey.
Copper mining
Chile: one third of world production
Chile owns the world's largest copper reserves and is by far the world’s main producer of this metal. Copper has a superior electrical conductivity and is essential for higher energy efficiency, not only in traditional industrial and infrastructure usage, but also in high technology.
Copper is appreciated for its malleability, resistance to corrosion, durability, full recyclability and aesthetic qualities. Typical applications include cables, connectors and wiring, plumbing and roofing as well as coinage.
In 2006, Chile produced 5.4 million tonnes of copper, over one third of world production approaching the sum total of USA (1.2 M t), Peru (1.0 M t), China (0.9 M t), Australia (0.9 M t), Indonesia (0.8 M t) and Russia (0.7 M t) (source: British Geological Survey).
In 2010, Mining contributed 6.7 % to Chile's GDP, Copper mining alone accounting for 5.5 % of GDP. Mining products comprised 63.5 % of Chile's goods exports, broken down comprising 62.2% of metal mining products and 56.1% copper alone (data not shown).
Mining and quarrying accounted for the employment of 95 476 persons in Chile, in 2009, corresponding to a 1.5 % share of total employment. At a regional level, mining can be of considerable importance. In the northern regions of Antofagasta and Atacama, employment in mining and quarrying accounted for 10.2 % of total employment while, in the region of Coquimbo, located closer to the capital region of Santiago, that share was 5.2 %.
Copper is refined to various degrees for export and, internationally, it is especially traded in the form of copper cathodes. In 2010, Chile’s copper exports mainly went to Asia (61.7 %, USD f.o.b.), especially to China (32.6 %) and Japan (11.8 %), but also to the EU-27 (17.7 %), Brazil (5.8 %) and the USA (4.4 %).
Figure 6 reflects the importance of copper ores in the EU-27’s imports of all metalliferous ores from Chile, from 2000 to 2010 (between 65 % and 75 % – apart from a sharp drop to 46 % in 2005, attributable to a sudden rise in the prices of other metalliferous ores). The effect of the strong rise in copper prices witnessed on world markets in 2006, with a subsequent decline in 2008, is apparent.
From a high value of 2.5 EUR/lb in April 2008, the price of copper products more than halved, falling back to just over 1.0 EUR/lb by end-2008. However the price of copper rose thereafter, reaching 2.5 EUR/lb again in March 2010.
Further down in the process of industrial refining, and during the decade under review, copper made up more that 95 % of the EU-27 imports of non-ferrous metals from Chile. Its share reached 99 % in 2010 (data not shown).
In 2010, the value of EU-27 imports of copper and copper ores from Chile amounted to just over EUR 5 billion. The main EU-27 Member States importing copper are depicted in Figure 7.
According to the International Wrought Copper Council (IWCC), the trade association for the copper fabricating industry, the end use of copper in Europe (in 2007) could be determined as follows:
- electrical cables: 48 %;
- building: 27 %;
- engineering: 12 %;
- electrical equipment: 8 %;
- transport: 3 %;
- other (coins, sculptures, musical instruments, cookware, etc..): 2 %.
Despite the large quantity of copper imports into EU-27 from Chile, in Europe in 2007, 41 % of the copper usage came from recycled copper.
Fisheries
Chile and the EU-27 produce similar amounts
Fisheries are of particular importance to Chile, which has one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world and benefits from factors such as the Humboldt current and one of the world’s largest upwelling systems (motion of cool, nutrient-rich waters towards the ocean’s surface, replacing the warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water). The size of Chile’s total catches is similar to the EU-27’s yet the make-up is different (Table 6).
In both economies, marine fish formed a major share of production in 2009, all the more so in the EU-27's. Diadromous fish (salmon and trout - see ISSCAAP) as well as aquatic plants (especially algae) both represented 10 % of Chilean catches whereas crustaceans (e.g. shrimps, crab) contributed 5 % to EU-27 total. With the help of aquaculture, Chile is now replacing Atlantic Salmon, hit by an outbreak of the ISA virus, with trout and coho salmon. This virus, together with a consolidation in the sector explains the decline of Chilean fishery exports since 2007 (see Figure 8 for Chilean exports to the EU-27).
Despite this overall decline, the EU has invested in the Chilean mussels sector, resulting in considerably increased exports to the EU (for instance, Chilean exports of processed mussels to the EU-27 passed from 133 tonnes in 2000 to 27 000 tonnes in 2010). This direct EU investment in Chile is an effect of the Free Trade Agreement in the framework of the Association Agreement mentioned previously.
As a by-product of fish catches, the relative importance of ‘Flours, meals and pellets of fish or of crustaceans’ (SITC 08142, i.e. part of section SITC 0 ‘Food and live animals’, division 08 ‘Feeding stuff for animals’) should be mentioned, as the EU is quite dependent on a few Latin American countries for fishmeal used in EU aquaculture. Chile’s share in total fish flour and fish meal imports of EU-27 in 2010 amounted to 15 % (total value: EUR 70.9 million). With 56 %, the equivalent share of neighbouring Peru was even larger.
Whereas fisheries employed 54 470 persons in Chile in 2009 (0.78 % of total employment according to the Chilean Labour force survey), in the EU-27, fishing and aquaculture employed 178 000 persons in 2009 (0.08 % of total employment), of which the largest shares were in Spain, Italy and France.
Data sources and availability
Data sources
The sources for the statistics in this publication are essentially Eurostat for the EU-27, and INE for the Chilean data, as well as the Banco Central de Chile (Central Bank, Chile). Data on international trade have been taken from Eurostat’s Comext database. It should be noted that Comext is updated regularly; Comext data presented in this publication were extracted on 7 April 2011. The data on Chilean production and exports of minerals were obtained from the Comisión Chilena del Cobre – Cochilco (Chilean Copper Commission), as well as from the London Metals Exchange (world copper prices). Data on copper use and recycling was provided by the European Copper Institute (ECI).
The data on fish and other aquatic animals were prepared to (UN) FAO Fishbase – ISSCAAP standards by: the Servicio Nacional de Pesca, Chile – Sernapesca: Chilean Ministry of Economics, Development and Tourism, as well as by the EU Member States sending their data to Eurostat.
Table 1: Selected basic indicators
EU-27 data stem from a number of sources. The table codes/links to Eurostat’s reference database are:
- population, population growth & density: demo_pjan;
- life expectancy: demo_mlexpec;
- infant mortality: demo_minfind;
- activity rates: lfsq_argan;
- unemployment. rates: lfsq_urgan;
- government expenditure: gov_a_exp.
Methodology for external trade statistics
In the methodology applied for statistics on the trading of goods, extra-EU trade (trade between Member States and non-member countries) statistics do not record exchanges involving goods in transit, placed in a customs warehouse or given temporary admission (for trade fairs, temporary exhibitions, tests, etc.). This is known as "special trade". So the partner will be the country of final destination of the goods.
SITC classification
Information on commodities exported and imported are presented according to the Standard international trade classification (SITC) at a more general level (1-digit – Figures 4 and 5) and at a more detailed level (2-digits – Table 2 and 3). 3-digits level figures are referred to in the text.
A full description is available from Eurostat’s classification server RAMON.
Table 4: Activity and employment indicators
Before early 2000s the EU Labour force survey (LFS) was conducted annually in spring, rather than quarterly. Spring was considered a period representative of the labour situation in the whole year. The changeover from an annual survey to a continuous, quarterly survey took place between 1998 and 2004, depending on the Member State. For more information on the transition to a quarterly continuous survey, see the EU-LFS Metadata page.
f.o.b./c.i.f./lb
These are global shipping terms used in international trade:
- c.i.f. stands for “cost insurance and freight; this means shipper/trader has to pay the cost of shipment up to the ship, insurance cost of cargo and freight cost up to destination port;
- f.o.b. stands for “free on board” which means shipper/trader pays only costs up to the ship and insurance cost, but freight charges are paid by the buyer/consignee;
- Lb: pound or pound-mass, unit of mass (Latin: libra), equivalent to 0.45359237 kilograms.
In this publication: 1 billion = 1 000 000 000
Context
This statistical article was prepared jointly by Eurostat and by the National Statistical Institute (INE), Chile, within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by both institutions in 2010.
The European Union and Chile signed an Association Agreement in 2002 which came into force in 2003 and has since made a positive contribution to trade between the two partners.
The EU is Chile’s second main partner for both goods imports and exports. Chile’s economy displayed robustness in the face of recent adversity: the world recession, a large drop in the price of copper, as well as the second-strongest earthquake in the country’s history in February 2010.
See also
- Africa-EU - economic indicators, trade and investment
- Latin America-EU - economic indicators, trade and investment
- Mexico-EU - basic statistical indicators
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- EU-27 and Chile: basic statistical indicators and selected trade figures - Statistics in focus 33/2011
Main tables
- International trade, see:
- International trade data (t_ext)
Database
- International trade, see:
- International trade data (ext)
Traditional external trade database access (ComExt) (comext)
- Labour force statistics, see:
- LFS series - Detailed quarterly survey results (from 1998) (lfsq) (Information on NACE Rev.2)
- Activity and activity rates - LFS series (lfsq_act)
- Fisheries statistics, see:
- Catches by fishing area (fish_ca)