Peru: Economic activity stabilizes in October

In October, economic activity expanded 3.0% over the same month last year, which matched the result tallied in September. According to the Statistical Institute, the expansion in October was mainly driven by growth in the mining industry, which has experienced a surge in output in the second half of the year. The commerce sector also contributed to October’s growth. In contrast, the construction and manufacturing industries tallied losses in October.

A month-on-month comparison showed that economic activity decreased a seasonally-adjusted 0.2% in October, which was below the 0.4% reading observed in September.

Given the steady increase in economic activity, the growth trend gained momentum. Annual average growth in economic activity increased slightly from 2.2% in September to 2.3% in October, which marked the highest reading in 11 months.

The panelists who participated in this month’s LatinFocus Consensus Forecast survey expect GDP to expand 2.7% in 2016, which is down 0.1 percentage points from last month’s projection. For 2017, the panel expects the economy to grow 3.4%.