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After more than 25 years of negotiations, Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay) and European Union (EU) reached an association agreement in December 2024— a turning point in the history of both regions. It is currently undergoing legal review, and a provisional implementation is expected by the beginning of 2026.

Uruguay faces a global context of uncertainty and low growth. Domestically, there is a slowdown in GDP, fiscal challenges, and sluggish consumption and investment. However, the external sector is resilient, inflation remains stable, and the peso is showing strength.

Poverty in LATAM represents a complex and diverse challenge. On average, monetary poverty affects 37% of the population in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. A Multidimensional Poverty Index constructed for these countries identifies key deprivations linked to health coverage, economic dependency, and education.

Political events at the centre scene, in a year marked by key elections in many regions with two warlike conflicts with tragic consequences still underway, contrasts with the resilience of the global economy, which continues its very soft landing process of activity and inflation almost silently.

After a weak GDP growth of 0.4% in 2023, activity will grow 3.2% in 2024 due to the recovery of the agricultural sector, hydroelectric power generation and private consumption. Even so, reforms are needed to gain competitiveness and maintain a sustainable growth path.

Uruguay continues to show a solid, liquid financial system with a good quality loan portfolio that translates into low levels of non-performing loans. Compared to the rest of the region, the penetration levels of the financial system are mid-range, which gives it a high growth potential for the medium term.

The constitutional soundness together with the already made change in the energy matrix and the explicit plan in the implementation of green hydrogen leave Uruguay in a highly favorable position to decarbonize its economy, which will increase the life quality of its future inhabitants

After the pandemic and the end of the construction of the third pulp mill, the Uruguayan economy faces a couple of years of moderate growth. However, in the long term, recent improvements in the sovereign risk rating reinforce the institutional quality and strength of the country's macroeconomic fundamentals.