GDP grew 2.2% in 2019, compared to 2018. In 2019, GDP the growth rate was primarily driven by increased production in agriculture and livestock, electricity, construction, wholesale and retail trade and other services, partially offset by a contraction of 1.3% in primary production, which was mainly due to lower availability of anchovy and reduced mineral production. In terms of contribution to GDP in 2019, mining and hydrocarbons accounted for 12.9%, manufacturing for 12.3%, construction for 5.8%, wholesale and retail trade for 10.8% and other services for 50.3%. In total, the primary and secondary sectors contributed an aggregate of 38.9% to GDP in 2019.
Primary Production
During 2019, primary production increased by 0.2% compared to 2018, due to an increase in agriculture production offset in part by the decrease of production in fishing and mining. In terms of contribution to GDP, agriculture and livestock accounted for 5.6% in 2019. In total, the primary sectors contributed 18.9% to GDP in 2019.
Agriculture and Livestock
The Peruvian agriculture and livestock sector is dominated by small-scale producers. The sector contributed 5.5% and 5.6% to GDP in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Peru’s main agricultural products are potatoes, corn, rice, coffee, fruits and vegetables, which together accounted for approximately 70.9% and 71.1% of agricultural production in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Peru’s main agricultural export products are coffee, cotton and sugar, which together accounted for approximately 11.3% and 11.2% of agricultural production in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
During 2019, the agriculture and livestock sector grew 3.2% driven by production of products oriented to domestic consumption (potatoes, bananas, yucca, lemons and tangerines), and for exports (blueberry, coffee, mango, cocoa, avocado and olive), as well as chicken and eggs. For this sector 2019 represented 15 years of continuous growth. Agriculture grew 2.6% and livestock 4.1%, in each case, compared to 2018.
Fishing
Fishing is a small part of the Peruvian economy, contributing 0.4% to GDP in 2019. Fish products accounted for 6.7% and 7.3% of exports in 2018 and 2019, respectively, considering both traditional exports (fish meal and fish oil) and non-traditional exports (frozen shellfish and mollusks, frozen fish, and prepared and canned food).
In 2019, fishing production contracted by 25.9% compared to 2018, mainly due to the lower anchovy fishing quotas during the first season in the North-Center section and the lower catch in the second season, due to the large presence of juvenile fish. In 2019 there was a decrease in fishing of maritime origin, due to the 44.4% decrease in extraction of species that are primarily used in products destined for indirect human consumption (industrial use), mainly as a result of lower catches of anchovy to 3,379,276 tons in 2019 compared to 6,072,888 tons in 2018.
Mining and Hydrocarbons
The mining and hydrocarbons sector had no variation in 2019, compared to 2018 due to decreased mining production of 0.8%, partially offset by increased hydrocarbons extraction of 4.6%.
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