In 2021, the free zones installed in Uruguay increased their contribution to the Uruguayan economy, after representing 6.18% of the Gross Domestic Product, according to MEF figures.

Las companies in free trade zone They invested US$ 1,616 million during 2021, which was 107% more compared to the previous year when the amount had been US$ 780 million. The growth was mainly explained by the second UPM pulp mill.

In the same year, from these customs territories some 678 exporting companies They sold abroad a total of US$5,124 million, 12.6% more than in 2020 when it had been US$4,549 million.

The data comes from the analysis of the economic activity of the free trade zone, made by the National Directorate of Free Trade Zoness of Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and recently disclosed.

Contribution of the economy

According to published data, free zones contributed to the expansion of the Uruguayan economy, with a representation in the Gross domestic product (GDP) of 6.18%, about US$ 3,792 million.

This contribution implied an improvement compared to the 2020 records, when free zones had represented 5.24% (US$ 2,832 million) of the Uruguayan GDP.

When analyzing the contribution made by each of the 12 developers, it was found that Zonamerica was the one that contributed the most, with a gross value added of US$ 1,515 million, followed by Zona Franca Punta Pereira (the Montes del Plata industrial complex) with US$ 499 million and in third place, World Trade Center Free Zone with US$ 471 million.

Then followed UPM Fray Bentos (US$ 396 million); AguadaPark (US$260 million); Continental Group (US$ 230 million); Science Park (US$ 140 million); Cuecar, belonging to UPM (US$ 125 million); Nueva Palmira Zone (US$ 91 million); Florida Free Trade Zone (US$ 44 million); Libertad Free Zone (US$ 13 million); and Colonia Switzerland Free Trade Zone (US$ 2 million).

Investments

Of the US$ 1,616 million invested by the free zones in 2021, that belonging to UPM's second pulp mill (Cuecar) was the one that accounted for most of that investment, with a total amount of US$ 1,169 million. The other two developers that invested the most were World Trade Center Free Zone, US$ 181 million and Zonamerica, with a total inversion of US$ 124 million.

By type of free zone, the largest investments were industrial (representing 74.22% of the total), followed by traditional investments (13.48%) and services (12.3%).

Exports

. Free zones sold US$5,124 million abroad, 12.6% more than in 2020.

As in previous years, the one that exported the most was Zonamerica, with a total of US$ 1,568 million and 380 companies that explained those sales. According to MEF data, the average exports by company in Zonamerica it was US$ 4.13 million.

The other two developers that accounted for the largest amount of exports were the two service free zones: World Trade Center Free Zone and Aguada Park. In the first case, exports were made by 110 companies and totaled US$ 818 million (an average of US$ 7.43 million per company). Meanwhile, in the exports of Aguada Park 75 companies participated and totaled US$ 741 million (an average of US$ 9.88 million per company).

As in previous years, the main export destination was U.S (US$803 million), followed by Netherlands (US$550 million). As a novelty compared to the record of previous years, the third destination that received the most exports was Argentina, with a total of US$ 379 million.

The services sector was the one that exported the most (US$ 2,624 million) representing 51% of the total, followed by industry (US$ 1,789 million and a representation of 35%) and finally, trade represented 14% of the total exported with the US. $710 million.

Employment

During 2021, the dependent employed personnel in the free zones was 20,197 people -mostly from Uruguay, as established by current regulations-, which meant an increase of 21.8% compared to the 2020 record.

Zonamerica was the free zone with the largest number of dependent personnel (6,911 people), followed by AguadaPark (4,065) and Cuecar (3,391).

When analyzing the main characteristics of employed dependent personnel, 63% were men and 37% women. In terms of age, the majority (11,390 people) were workers between 30 and 49 years old and in terms of academic level, in 50% of the cases (10,107 people), the workers had tertiary training or higher. 55% of women working in free zones had a tertiary level of training or higher, while this figure was lower in the case of men, 47%.

Meanwhile, non-dependent employed personnel in free zones remained almost unchanged compared to 2020, employing a total of 783 people, just 1.2% more than the previous year.