Caribbean exports rise 19.1% as IDB urges region to court foreign investment

WASHINGTON, United States. Goods exports from Latin America and the Caribbean grew 19.5% year on year in the first half of 2026, outpacing the 14.5% increase in world trade, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The Washington-based institution said exports were driven by higher prices for oil and other commodities and by demand for infrastructure associated with artificial intelligence.

Export growth in the Caribbean reached 19.1%, concentrated in Guyana and Suriname, while South America recorded 16.5%. In both cases growth was driven by higher prices for mining and energy products, particularly oil, the IDB's Trade and Integration Monitor 2026 says.

Mexico led regional growth at 24.6% on the back of sales of AI infrastructure equipment to the United States.

"The region's strong export performance opens an opportunity to attract more foreign investment," the Monitor says. It describes a "strong performance" despite a challenging global environment, driven mainly by higher export volumes, with rising prices also contributing.

Record share of US imports

The region's share of US imports, the main destination for its export growth, reached a record 22.1% in the first half of 2026, even as US purchases from the rest of the world declined. The region also regained market share in Europe, the report says.

"The trade resilience of Latin America and the Caribbean is an opportunity to attract more investment," said Paolo Giordano, principal economist in the IDB's Productivity, Trade, and Innovation Sector.

"To seize it, the region can pair its international trade and investment commitments with complementary domestic regulatory frameworks that give investors certainty," he added.

Investment falling behind

The Monitor notes that although the region still attracts more foreign direct investment relative to the size of its economy than any other region, it received 4.5% less investment in 2023 to 2025 than in 2012 to 2014. Its share of the global stock of foreign direct investment fell from 7.1% to 6.0%.

The report says the region can benefit from double taxation treaties, bilateral investment treaties and trade agreements with investment chapters, "as these are associated with a higher likelihood of investment ties between countries."

It adds that the provisional application of the European Union to Mercosur trade agreement, the modernisation of other trade agreements and the reshaping of global value chains by artificial intelligence and the energy transition "open a window of opportunity for the region."

The IDB argues that the region's external trade agenda should be accompanied by complementary reforms to national regulatory frameworks and by investment in public goods that lower the costs private companies face when expanding into international markets.