The Uruguayan economy is small and open, with a growing projection towards the regional and international external market, where exports play an important role for local productive development. The sector with the largest participation in GDP is the services sector, within which trade, transportation and communications, financial services, insurance, real estate and other corporate services stand out.
The agricultural supply represents 8% of GDP, however, this activity contributes to the economy in many ways, because it provides most of the raw materials for the manufacturing industry, accounting for 75% of the country’s exports. Uruguay has achieved sustained economic growth, with an average growth rate of GDP per year between 2005 and 2014 of 5.3%. In July 2013, the World Bank ranked Uruguay as a high income country with a gross national income per capita of USD 13,580. Macroeconomic stability and a strong institutional framework, with a set of clear rules for investors, coupled with an attractive promotional regime drive the productive investment momentum in recent years.
Investment, measured in gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is growing steadily and at record speeds, except for 2009 (year of the international crisis). Over the past years the country has been receiving an important flow of direct foreign investment in several sectors of activity.
On the other hand, prices show a stable behavior with one-digit inflation rates. Inflation’s trend is expected to continue as a result of an inflation target control policy adopted by the Central Bank of Uruguay in 2004. The deepening of the process of economic liberalization led to a steady growth of foreign trade, both in goods and services, reaching record levels in recent years. The main export products are soy, bovine meat, cellulose, dairy products and other agricultural based-products; while tourism, global services and logistics are the main exported services given the geographically strategic position of Uruguay in the region. Due to the policy of seeking new markets, undertaken both by private and public stakeholders, aimed at placing goods outside the region, export destinations have diversified, thus achieving less dependence on few markets.