Agriculture report - 2024

Summary

• Natural resources and productive factors place Uruguay as an advantaged player in the production of food. With over 90% of the surface area suitable for agricultural activity, Uruguay is a reliable global supplier of food and agricultural products.

• The agricultural industry represents between 6% and 7% of Uruguay's GDP (2019-2022). When including associated subsectors and industries, it is often referred to as the agribusiness sector and its contribution rises to between 14% and 16% of GDP (2019-2022). The agribusiness, in addition to its direct participation, has a positive impact on other sectors, with backward linkages (through increased demand for transport services, storage, production of inputs, telecommunications, etc.) and forward linkages (much of the national agribusiness production is an input for other industries).

• In the 2022-2023 season, the total cultivated area increased by 14% year-on-year. However, the severe drought of 2023 affected summer crops, particularly soybeans, whose yields fell to historic lows, as did the amount exported.

• The agribusiness sector employed approximately 217,000 people (2023), representing 13% of the country's labor. Agricultural activities accounted for 83,500 jobs, including the industry associated with the sector.

• The incentives associated with the Investment Law (No. 16.906) continue to have a positive impact on the number of projects and total amounts. In fact, projects linked to the agribusiness sector leaped from an average of 56 between 2016 and 2019, to 102 projects for the period between 2020 and 2023.

• Agribusiness exports accounted for 80% of total exports of goods in 2023, reaching US$ 9,086 million and marking a 17% decrease in the year-on-year comparison. Within these, agricultural goods totaled US$ 983 million, which implied a decrease of 61%, mainly due to the fall in soybean exports and, to a lesser extent, in barley and corn exports.