Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Economy of Uruguay - statistics & facts
Between the years 2022 and 2023, Uruguay faced an historical drought that led to a call for national emergency in the latter year. This extreme event severely impacted the agricultural sector of the country. However, despite the adversities, Uruguay's economy has demonstrated a positive performance with a gross domestic product (GDP) estimated at 81 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, reflecting a 3.11 percent growth year-over-year. In 2023, the country had the highest GDP per capita of the South American countries.
International trade
The Uruguayan economy is dominated by the service sector, which contributed about 66 percent to the GDP in 2023, followed by the industry and agricultural sectors at 16 and six percent, respectively. Nevertheless, the South American country is well-known for its agricultural exports. In 2024, all the leading export goods were related to this sector, with beef accounting for over two billion U.S. dollars, and China and Brazil being primary trading partners.Foreign direct investment
Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been growing since 2020, with 2.8 billion U.S. dollars in inflows in 2023. In that year, 26 percent of the attracted investments were directed at the manufacturing sector. The commerce and financial and insurance services sectors were responsible for nearly 11 and 32 percent, respectively, of the foreign investment in the country. As for the origin of the FDI, in 2023 Spain was behind 18 percent of the total amount invested, followed by Finland, whose investment constituted 13 percent overall.Labor market
Home to 3.5 million people, Uruguay had a labor participation rate of over 75 percent in 2023, which amounted to nearly 1.7 million workers. Nevertheless, not everyone has successful in finding a job, as the unemployment rate grew from 8.36 percent in 2023 to 8.4 percent in 2024. Unemployment is higher in the eastern and northwestern part of the country, as the departments of Rio Negro and Treinta y Tres both had a rate over 14 percent in the quarter comprised of November 2024 to January 2025.Economic outlook
In 2024, the inflation rate of Uruguay reached 4.85 percent - the lowest level since 2005. In 2024, the agricultural sector had its first year without any adverse events since the end of the severe drought in 2023, thus increasing its export goods. With inflation within the Central Bank’s target range and the recovery of the agricultural goods exports, Uruguay is projected to have a GDP growth of 2.84 percent in 2025.
