The salmon production chain contributes US$6,956 million to the Chilean economy, equivalent to 2.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year). It also supports 337,670 jobs, or 3.8% of national employment. These are the estimates of a study presented this Wednesday by SalmonChile, the association representing salmon farming companies.
According to La Tercera, the report is titled "Economic Contribution of the Salmon Industry in Chile." It was prepared by the consultancy CoMov Consultores and commissioned by the association itself. According to CNN Chile, the figures cover 2022.
The most striking finding is geographic. 72% of the contribution to GDP occurs outside the four regions where the activity originates. "Seven out of every 10 pesos supported by the industry are generated outside the south, and 2 out of every 3 pesos are generated outside the industry," said economist Federico Huneeus, an external adviser to the study and senior economist at the Central Bank of Chile.
The clearest examples are in central Chile. In the Metropolitan Region, where there is no production, the industry supports 202,872 jobs and 3.6% of regional GDP, all indirectly, through services, manufacturing and logistics that Santiago sells to the chain. In Biobío, which has no salmon farming concessions, it supports 42,361 jobs through processing in Concepción.
Of the total jobs, 78,808 are direct: 27,505 in farming and 51,302 in processing plants. The other 258,862 are indirect, in suppliers, transport, commerce and services. For every direct job, the sector supports another 3.3 elsewhere in the economy.
That direct core is not entirely at sea either. Processing accounts for 59% of value added and 65% of direct employment, leading the authors to describe the industry as food manufacturing as well.
In the south, its share is much larger. In Aysén, salmon accounts for 21.4% of regional GDP and 19.3% of employment. In Los Lagos, it reaches 12.6% of GDP and supports 47,279 jobs, the highest figure in the country. In Magallanes, it accounts for 11.1% of GDP.
To put this in perspective, the study conducted a hypothetical exercise: removing salmon farming from the economy and measuring what would happen to the rest. Think of removing a central part of a mechanism and seeing how many gears stop turning. In Aysén and Magallanes, the industry supports about one in ten jobs in health care, education, public administration and construction.
The model, based on academic work by Huneeus and del Valle (2025), simulates the economy as a network of 56 provinces and 47 sectors. It combines microdata from the Internal Revenue Service (SII) with surveys and national accounts.
That change in method explains why the figure is higher than previous estimates commissioned by SalmonChile from economist Raphael Bergoeing. Those estimated a total contribution of 2.1% and 1.8% of GDP, using base years of 2019 and 2021. The direct contribution, however, remains similar: 0.91% now, compared with 0.95% and 0.63% previously.
The authors clarify that the 337,670 jobs are neither a workforce headcount nor an unemployment forecast. They represent the net change in employment that the economy would cease to support if the industry did not exist.
SalmonChile President Patricio Melero said the data would help ensure that "the authorities legislate on a sound technical basis." Undersecretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture Osvaldo Urrutia proposed sending a summary of the report to every legislator in the country.
