Chile’s industrial production falls 5.1% as mining and manufacturing weaken

Chile’s industrial production fell 5.1% in July from a year earlier, according to the National Statistics Institute. It was the country’s second-deepest industrial decline of 2026, after a 7.5% drop in May.

Mining drove much of the contraction. The mining production index declined 7.2%, while metal mining fell 10.7% because of reduced copper extraction and processing. Copper remains Chile’s main export.

Manufacturing production dropped 4.9% over the year. The decline was driven mainly by a 25.9% fall in the manufacture of coke and petroleum-refining products.

Electricity, gas and water production provided the only increase among the main industrial measures, rising 0.3% from July 2025. The figures came as Chile’s wider economic activity contracted 0.9% in the first quarter and 0.2% in the second.

President José Antonio Kast’s administration has secured congressional approval for a controversial large-scale economic and tax reform aimed at reviving growth. The Central Bank has forecast 2026 GDP growth of between 1% and 1.75%.