Chile has a free market economy and is the fifth biggest economy in South America. The country is primarily dependent on international trade and is the world's largest producer and exporter of copper. The country registered an average GDP growth of about 3.85% during the 2004-09 period, primarily due to the increase in foreign trade, substantial macroeconomic easing, a well-capitalised banking system, and absence of imbalances in the private sector.

(Source: Emopriki Trade, Bloomberg, World Bank, XE.Com, Central Bank of Chile)

 Gross Domestic Product

 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current price was CLP 103,806.38 billion in 2010 as compared to CLP 90,219.53 billion in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

GDP per capita

Chile’s GDP per capita was USD 9,672 in 2009, as compared to USD 10,188 in 2008. The GDP per capita at PPP in 2009 was USD 14,341 as compared to USD 14,688 in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Gross National Income (GNI) per capita at PPP

Gross National income per capita at PPP in 2010 was USD 13,561 in 2010 as compared to USD 12,013 in 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Income Tax Rate

The country’s highest tax rate for an individual is 40%.

Corporate Tax Rate

The corporate income tax is levied at 17%.

Tax contribution	Total Tax Rate (% Profit)
Corporate income tax	18
Property tax	1.8
Municipal tax	0.8
Fuel tax	0.5
Unemployment insurance contributions	2.7
Accidents insurance	1.1

(Source: doingbusiness.org, Emopriki Trade, Bloomberg, World Bank, XE.Com, Central Bank of Chile)

Inflation Rate

Average inflation rate in the country was 1.72% in 2010, as compared to 1.68% in 2009. Inflation rate has been fluctuating in the past decade and the highest inflation rate in the past decade of 8.71% was recorded in 2008.

(Source: IMF)

Foreign Direct Investment

Total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Chile was USD 235,736 million in September 2010 as compared to USD 208,246.3 million in the year 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Portfolio Investment

Total portfolio investment in the country was USD 38,347.9 million in September 2010, whereas it was USD 27,848.5 million in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Portfolio Investment in Chile (USD million)
Year	Sep 2010	Dec 2009	Dec 2008	Dec 2007	Dec 2006
Portfolio Investment	38,347.9	27,848.5	20,172.8	19,961.9	19,822.1

Banking Sector Assets

 The Total assets of Central Bank of Chile was CH$ 18,612.10 billion in the year 2009, which grew by 3.24% over the previous year.

Total Assets of Central Bank of Chile (CLP billion)
End of Period	2009	2008
Foreign assets	12,975.91	14,575.22
Reserve assets	12,849.40	14,422.07
Other foreign assets	126.50	153.16
Domestic assets	5,209.79	2,807.14
Domestic loans	3,359.59	936.23
Operations Under Specific Legal Regulation	1,850,.21	1,870.90

(Source: Central Bank of Chile page no - 139)

Consumer Price Index

The average consumer price index was 101.41 in 2010.

Base Year December 2008 = 100

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Interest rates on time deposits

Interest rates on time deposit in March 2011 (%)
1 to 3 months deposit	3 to 6 months deposit	6 to 12 months deposit
4.08	5.04	0.45

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Money supply (Currency in Circulation)

Total money in circulation in the country was CLP 1,933.05 billion in December 2010, whereas CLP 1,710.42 million in December 2009.

Government Expenditure

Total expenditure of the government of Chile was CLP 22,411,428 million in 2009, as compared to CLP 18,897,024 million in 2008.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Public Sector Debt

The central government’s gross debt at the end of March 2010 amounted to USD 6,411,506 million, equivalent to 6.3% of GDP.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

The total debt stock of the central government was USD 13,326.6 million in 2010 (till June) or 7% of the GDP. The total internal debt in 2010 was 10,848.1 million and external debt was 2,478.5 million. The total debt stock for 2009 was USD 12,182.5 million equivalent to 6.2% of the GDP.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Official Exchange Rate

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Government finances

Sovereign debt dynamics

Fiscal balance

The country registered a fiscal deficit of CLP 4,042.55 billion in the year 2009 as compared to a surplus of CLP 3,894.08 billion in 2008.

(Source: MOF)

Total Revenue

Total Revenue of Government of Chile (CLP million)
	2009	2008
Total Revenue	18,316,542	23,046,794
Net tax revenues	13,346,556	16,717,551
Raw copper	1,593,047	3,246,390
Pension taxation	1,371,750	1,308,341
Donations	68,124	65,621
Property income	656,344	776,437
Operating income	539,017	535,950
Other income	741,704	396,504

(Source: MOF)

Tax Revenue

Total tax revenue in the year 2009 was CLP 13,346,556 million as compared to CLP 23,046,794 million in 2008. (Source: MOF)

Current Account Balance - Surplus/Deficit

The country registered a current account surplus of USD 3,802 million in the year 2010 as compared to USD 2,570 million in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Balance of Payments

Balance of payments (USD million)
	2010	2009
Total Balance	3,024	1,648
Current account Balance	3,802	2,570
Capital and financial account	-3,267	-3,344
Net errors and Omissions	-534	774

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

The total labour force in Chile at the end of December 2010 was 7.9 million, of which 7.35 million people were employed and 563,800 individuals were unemployed.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

The unemployment rate was 7.1% in December 2010.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Minimum wage

The minimum wage limit in Chile is CLP 165,000 (USD 308.53) a month.

(Source: Central Bank of Chile)

Level of Unionisation

The workers in the country have the right to form or join unions without any authorisation. The Directorate of Labour has the authority to supervise financial and property transactions of the trade unions.

Trade unions in Chile include:

• Central Autónoma de Trabajadores de Chile (CAT)
• Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT)

(Source: ICFTU, ITUC)

The Government in Chile is based on the presidential, republic and democratic framework which means that the president is the highest authority and heads the government.

The power in the country is shared at three different levels - the executive power i.e. the president, the legislative power i.e. shared by the House of Representatives and the senate and finally the judicial power.

Presidential elections are held every four years; the latest presidential elections were held in 2009 and the current president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera Echenique, was elected in 2010.

Chile has a multi-party system which means there are a number of political parties operational. The following political parties participated in 2010 elections.

• Renovacion Nacional
• Partido Democrata Cristiano
• Partido Por La Democracia
• Union Democrata Independiente
• Partido Socialista De Chile
• Partido Radical Socialdemocrata
• Partido Regionalista De Los Independientes
• Partido Comunista De Chile
• Partido Humanista
• Movimiento Amplio Social
• Partido Ecologista Del Sur

The country was forced into a coup in 1973 by General Augusto Pinochet, the then Chief of Army staff. He then assumed the office of the president. His rule was marked by suspending civil liberties, banning political activity and curbing parliament. The current Chilean constitution was approved and enforced in 1980 and 1981 under his military dictatorship. After the fall of Pincohet's dictatorship government in 1988, the Chilean government has been stable and free of coups.

(Source: Servel Chile , Infoplease)

Regulatory Environment in Chile

The country’s economic freedom score is 77.4, making its economy the 11^th freest in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. Chile has the highest degree of economic freedom in the South and Central America and Caribbean region.

(Source:Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Chile ranks 21^st in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2010 which indicates that the corruption levels in the public departments in the country is low.

(Source:transparency.org)

Freedom of information

The constitution provides the country’s citizens and the media with freedom of speech. The media has the freedom to criticise the government and to cover sensitive issues.

Chile is ranked 33^rd in the world Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 10.50, indicating that media in the country has a considerable degree of freedom.

(Source: BBC, rsf.org)

Judicial system

Chile is ruled by the constitution created in 1980, although there have been several amendments to it. The judicial system is headed by the Supreme Court followed by a Constitutional Court, 16 Courts of Appeal, 84 Oral Criminal Tribunals and Guarantee Judges. There are other specialised tribunals and courts for family, labour, customs, taxes, and electoral affairs.

Constitutional court

The court is responsible for the reviewing the constitution. The court reviews statutes before they are enacted. Constitutional courts must declare a law or an act with the force of law as inapplicable or unconstitutional. The Constitutional court is a ten member team: three members are appointed by the Supreme Court, another three members are appointed by the President, and the remaining four members are chosen by the Senate.

Electoral court

Tribunal Calificador de Elecciones controls all the national elections, including the elections of the president, the national congress and the municipalities. The four members Electoral court, appointed by Supreme Court, must include an ex-President or Vice-President of the Senate or Chamber of Deputies.

Contraloría General de la República

As part of the executive branch, the Contraloría General de la República is in charge of the control of legal aspects, and the management and auditing of all the activities of the centralised and decentralised civil services. It also must take part in the approval or rejection of the revenue and investment accounts of public funds.

(Source:nyulawglobal.com)

Total population

The country’s population was estimated to be about 17.09 million in 2010.  Of this nearly 50.5% constituted the female population. The total male population of the country is estimated at about 8.4mn (2010) and female population at 8.6mn.

(Source: National Statistics Office)

(Source: National Statistics Office)

Gender ratio

The gender ratio in the country was 97.9 males per 100 females in the year 2009.

(Source: UN)

According to the latest estimate by the country’s statistical department, about 64.7% of the total population falls under the 15-59 age group, followed by 0-14 age group, which constitutes 22.3%. People above the age of 60 constitute nearly 12.9% of the total population.

(Source: National Statistics Office)

Mortality rate

The country’s mortality rate has seen a sharp decrease since 1848. The rate decreased from 32 deaths (per thousand people) in 1910 to 5.5 in 2010, reflecting a decrease of nearly 83%. The number of death per 1000 infants was 7.2% and that of children below the age of 5 was 8.7%.

(Source: National Statistics Office)

Birth rate

The birth rate in the country was 14 births (per 1000 inhabitants) in 2010. The birth rate in the country sharply decreased by 65%, from 39 births in 1910 to 14 births in 2010.

(Source: National Statistics Office)

Average life expectancy rate

The average life expectancy is 78.4 years. The average life expectancy rate for male was 75.7 years and for females 81.2 years.

(Source: National Statistics Office)

 Migration and urbanisation

The population of Chile is predominantly urban with nearly 88.7% of the total population concentrated in major urban areas. The rural population is estimated to be about 11.3% of the total population.

The country had an estimated 320,397 international migrants in mid-year 2010. The country’s migrant population is about 1.9% of the total population.

(Source: UN)

Nearly 95.4% of the total population constitutes is Caucasian or Caucasian Amerindians, followed by Mapuche with 4% and "others" constituting of the remaining 0.6%. About 76.7% of the population is Roman Catholic, 13.25% Evangelicals, 10.05% others.

(Source: National Statistics Office)

Human Development Index

The country is ranked 45^th on the Human Development Index 2010 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

Literacy rate

Adult literacy rate was 96.9% in the year 2010, as compared to 96.8% in the year 2009.

(Source: UNDP)

The education System in Chile is comprised of four stages – pre-primary education, primary education, secondary education and higher education.

Pre-primary education is not compulsory and includes children in the age group of 0 to 6 years. This stage of education is further divided into three levels the crèche serves the age group 0 to 2 years; average age group includes 2 to 4 years age children and third is transition stage for children aged between 4 to 6 years.

Primary education in the country is compulsory and is of eight years duration. The children may enter the first level of this stage at age six. The primary education is divided into two cycles; the first cycle includes four grades which are further divided into two sub-cycles such as 1-2 and 2-4. The second cycle is also divided into two sub cycles such as 5-6 and 7-8.

Secondary education is also compulsory and of four years duration. The secondary education is comprised of general education and different formations, which includes humanísticocientífica, technical-professional and artistic.

In the year 2009, the government spent CLP 4,061,028 million, which accounted for 18.12% of the total expenditure.

(Source: UNESCO)

Healthcare resources

The country has an advanced and state-of-art health care system. The national health care system provides basic medical service to all levels of society. The Ministry of Health is the governing body and is responsible for establishing health policies. Under its supervision are the public healthcare system (referred to as FONASA) and the regulatory responsibility for private health insurers (referred to as ISAPREs). The majority of the population (67%) is insured under FONASA, while 14.8% opt for insurance provided by ISAPREs. The remaining population is covered by other private plans and a small percentage is not insured.

In the year 2009, the government spent CLP 3,671,806 million, which accounted for 16.38% of the total expenditure.

(Source: Santiago.cl, World Bank Data, mangedhealthcareexecutive, Ministry of Finance)

Mass public transit

The mass public transport avaliable in the country are the buses and the metros. Roads in Chile stretch 80,505 km, out of this 16,745 km (including 2,414 km of expressways) are paved and 63,760 km are unpaved.

Ports in Chile

Major ports in the country include:

• Ancud
• Antofagasta
• Arica
• Cabo Negro
• Calbuco
• Caldera
• Caleta Clarencia
• Caleta Coloso
• Castro
• Chanaral
• Coquimbo
• Coronel
• Easter Island

(Source: worldportsource)

Airports

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

Total telephone subscribers in Chile were 109 per 100 population in the year 2008.

(Source: UN)

Total internet users in the country were 7.38 million in the year 2008 or 44.9% of the population.

 

(Source: internetworldstats.com)