Between January and September 2026, Chile sold US$20,689 million more abroad than it bought. It is the largest trade surplus in its history, at US$25,721 million. The figure comes from the preliminary Monthly Foreign Trade Report published this Thursday by the Undersecretariat for International Economic Relations (Subrei), using data from the Central Bank and the National Customs Service.
According to CNN Chile, the balance exceeds that of the same months in 2025 by US$10,512 million. It also breaks the previous record, set in 2007, when the surplus reached US$20,373 million.
The trade surplus works like a household budget. If income from sales exceeds spending on purchases, a positive balance remains. In this case, goods exports rose 18.5% to US$93,837 million, the first time they have exceeded US$90,000 million in a January–September period. Imports grew 6.4% to US$73,148 million, at just over a third of the pace of exports.
Total trade, which combines exports and imports, reached US$166,985 million. That is 12.9% more than in the same period of 2025.
Mining was the driving force. It contributed US$58,873 million, grew 25.7% and accounted for 62.7% of shipments. Copper alone generated US$49,247 million, up 18.7% from the previous year. Concentrates, which are partially processed ore, totaled US$31,565 million, while cathodes, refined copper plates, totaled US$14,839 million.
The key is price rather than quantity. Copper averaged US$6.09 per pound over the nine months, 40.6% above the US$4.33 recorded in the same period of 2025. In September, it reached US$6.57, the highest monthly value since records began in January 2005. To put that in perspective, it is as if a seller received four extra pesos for every ten for the same product.
The report itself warns that Chilean production has been constrained. According to the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco), prices are supported by strong demand from the United States, alongside still-moderate growth in Chinese manufacturing. In Chile, production has been affected by weather, lower ore grades (the concentration of copper in the rock) and workplace risks at mining operations that remain closed.
Lithium was the other surprise. Its shipments totaled US$4,745 million, almost triple the US$1,699 million recorded a year earlier. China received 74.5%, with markets such as Indonesia, Poland and Turkey also joining the list. Gold reached a record US$3,401 million.
Outside mining, exports reached a record US$34,963 million, up 8.2%. Salmon totaled US$4,770 million and grew 8% despite tariffs in the United States, its main market. Fishing and aquaculture exceeded US$7,000 million over nine months for the first time.
Other sectors declined. Fruit fell 4.0% to US$5,768 million because of lower returns from cherries, grapes and blueberries. Bottled wine fell 5.2% and forest product manufacturing declined 6.4%. Both showed signs of recovery in the third quarter.
China remained the leading destination, at US$31,089 million, followed by the United States, at US$15,967 million, according to El Periodista. India almost doubled its purchases to US$5,096 million and displaced Brazil as the fifth-largest buyer of Chilean copper. In total, 8,029 companies exported during the period, 3% more than in 2025.
