Chile Canada flags

In the last eight years, the annual trade between Chile and Canada has grown at a rate of 15 per cent on average, thanks to the free trade agreement that has been in place between the two countries for the last 15 years, according to a study by Direcon and reported by SimFRUIT.

In 2011, bilateral trade between the two nations reached some US$2.39bn, up 19 per cent on the previous year and triple the US$770m recorded in 2003.

Between 2003 and 2001, Chilean fresh fruit exports also rose by 27 per cent to reach some US$66m in value, accounting for 4.5 per cent of Chile’s total exports to the North American nation.

Canada is Chile’s fourteenth-largest trading partner, after India and above Bolivia, and represents around 1.5 per cent of Chile’s foreign trade, the report said.

During the 2003-2011 period, Chile’s total exports to Canada rose on average by 16 per cent annually.