Chile’s Main Imports

The biggest category of imports that takes place in Chile is that of machines. Machines make up for almost one-quarter of the total imports, therefore coming up to $15.2 billion. Under this department, the goods that are most frequently imported include computers, video displays, broadcasting equipment, all coming to 1.8%, 1.2%, and 2% respectively.

Next to machines, the most imported goods are mineral products and transportation. In fact, the three major imports of Chile fall within these categories, namely that of crude petroleum ($5.43 billion, or 7.9%), refined petroleum ($5.33 billion, or 7.7%), and cars ($3.8 billion, or 5.5%).

The three biggest import partners of Chile are China, the United States of America, and Brazil. China stands at 21% with 14.8 billion dollars, the United States comes at 20% with 14 billion dollars, and lastly, Brazil falls at 7.7% with 5.31 billion dollars. Crude petroleum, which is Chile’s top import item, is supplied by Brazil (43%), Ecuador (36%), and Angola (6.4%).

Refined petroleum, which is the second largest imported good in the country at about 90%, is mainly supplied by the United States. After the US, the next two biggest suppliers of refined petroleum are Japan (4.5%) and the Netherlands (1.4%).

Cars make up for the third largest imported items in Chile, coming up to 5.5% of total imports. The top three countries to supply cars to Chile are South Korea (26%), Japan (22%), and the US (10%).