Chile Closes 2025 With a Surprise Growth Beat, but Mining Woes and Fiscal Cracks Cloud the Handover to Kast

2026-02-02 - 19:35

Key Points Chile’s economy grew 1.7% in December, nearly double market expectations of 0.9%, lifting estimated full-year GDP growth to 2.3% — yet mining output plunged 8.1%, exposing deep structural fragility in the world’s top copper producer. The outgoing Boric government halted an 18-year streak of rising public debt, holding it at 41.7% of GDP,