Peru’s public works rose 19.33% in August as the economy grew 3.23% from a year earlier, the national statistics institute INEI said Thursday, October 15. Construction grew 10.34%, and commerce rose 6.89%, while mining and hydrocarbons contracted. The figures point to rising output alongside a sharp increase in consumer borrowing, but INEI’s release didn’t report wages or company profits.
Public Works and Consumer Credit
Cement consumption increased 7.63% in August, while public works rose 19.33%, helping construction grow 10.34%. The figures show more building activity. But INEI’s release doesn’t identify the contractors or say how the resulting income was divided.
Commerce grew 6.89%. Car sales rose 25.73%, supported by financing and vehicle fairs, while new light-vehicle sales climbed 44.7% to 23,412 units. Consumer-goods imports increased 23.1% to US$1.46 billion.
Consumer loans at commercial banks reached S/ 89.5 billion, about US$26.0 billion, up 15.9%. The report gives the scale of household borrowing, but not borrowers’ incomes, loan costs or repayment burdens.
Financial and insurance activity grew 3.19%. Deposits rose 7.91%, and credits increased 3.98%. Business services grew 3.91%, government services 3.06%, and electricity, gas and water activity 6.61%.
Mining Contracts as Exports Rise
Metal mining fell 6.14%, and hydrocarbons dropped 1.35%, leaving the combined mining and hydrocarbons sector down 5.53%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the sector contracted 3.62% from July.
Copper output fell 5.3% to about 207,100 tonnes as ore grades declined at Antapaccay, a copper mine in southern Peru. Chinalco, the miner behind Toromocho, carried out minor planned maintenance there, while Cerro Verde and Marcobre also produced less. Zinc production dropped 28.1% for a seventh consecutive month as Antamina processed more copper-only ore under its mine plan.
Average copper prices rose 48.9% from a year earlier to record highs, even as Peruvian copper volumes fell. Southern Peru Copper, the Peruvian arm of New York-listed Southern Copper (SCCO), was among the miners INEI named as having lower output. INEI reported price and production figures, but no company earnings or wage data.
Total exports grew 17.75% on larger shipments. Traditional products rose 20.89%, and non-traditional products increased 10.32%; central bank trade data put August exports at US$10.8 billion and imports at US$6.1 billion. Jewellery output rose 49.3%, and containers and trailers increased 194.43%. Apparel output fell 12.32%.
Public Forecasts, Missing Labor Data
Manufacturing grew 4.18%, helped by primary precious-metal products, which rose 89.91% from a low base. Crude oil output fell 10.85%, its 10th consecutive decline, as PetroTal worked on up to five wells at Lot 95.
Fishing fell 17.33%. Anchovy landings for fishmeal dropped 58.1% to 2,602 tonnes. ENFEN noted that giant squid fishing had been suspended since July 18. Fresh fish landings rose 11.54%, softening the sector’s decline; INEI’s figures were preliminary, and the report didn’t provide an El Niño estimate for the decline.
The central bank cut its 2026 growth forecast to 3.2% from 3.4% in September, citing El Niño. Analysts surveyed by the bank also expected 3.2% growth in 2026, while the International Monetary Fund’s October outlook projected 3%, up from 2.8% in April. INEI’s monthly output release reported no union actions, strikes, worker testimony or reform proposals. It also didn’t provide figures on profits, wages or how growth was distributed.
INEI reported output growth of 3.14% from January to August and 3.31% over the 12 months to August. The September output figure is scheduled for release on Sunday, November 15.
- peru
- gdp growth
- inei
- construction
- commerce
- mining
- copper production
- fishing