Peru's economic activity grows 2.86% year-on-year in January

Economic activity in Peru grew by 2.86% in January over the same month in 2021, driven by a recovery in almost all sectors after overcoming the recession caused by the pandemic, the government reported on Tuesday.

“In January of this year, domestic production increased by 2.86% compared to January 2021, explained by the favorable performance of most economic sectors, with the exception of Fisheries, Manufacturing, Construction and Finance and Insurance,” said the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) in its monthly report.

INEI warned that the basis for comparison is January 2021, a month during which the population lived confined for 15 days in some regions of the country by the second wave of covid-19.

The most dynamic sectors were accommodation and restaurants (30.37%), transport (9.24%), agriculture (4.96%) and mining (4.53%), among others, last January.

Fishing decreased by 30.27% but due to lower catch of marine species due to the start of a ban in the North-Central zone of the Peruvian coast on January 12. The same area was affected as of January 15 by an oil spill by the Spanish company Repsol.

INEI stressed that for the fourth consecutive month, since October 2021, “total public investment has been declining”.

Peru expects GDP growth for 2022 of 3.5 to 4%, a downward estimate since in August 2021 it set it at 4.8%.

Peru's economy grew 13.31% in 2021, the highest rate in a century, driven by the revival of production following the historic 11.12% contraction in 2020 due to a long 107-day quarantine between the second half of March and June 30 due to the pandemic.

The Peruvian economy had grown 2.16% in 2019.

The fall in GDP in 2020 marked the worst performance in the last three decades for Peru's economy, plunging the country into a recession that surpassed in the second quarter of 2021.

JJC/FJ/MR