According to preliminary information, last April the Imacec rose 14.1% over the same month a year before (Figure 1). The seasonally-adjusted series lost 1.4% with respect to the previous month, and rose 12.0% in twelve months. The month came with the same number of working days as April 2020. All the Imacec components rose over the same period a year before, led by the contributions of services and trade activities (Figure 2). This result was partly explained by the better adaptation of households and businesses to the Covid-19 sanitary emergency. The drop in the de-seasonalized Imacec was explained by the performance of services (Figure 3), reflecting the increase in constraints to people’s mobility with respect to the previous month.

Imacec analysis by activity

1. Goods production
The 3.8% rise in goods production was explained by the 11.3% growth in manufacturing output and, to a lesser extent, the 4.1% growth in mining production. By contrast, other goods posted a drop of 1.0%, associated to the fall in construction.

In seasonally-adjusted terms, goods production increased 0.4% with respect to the previous month. The result was driven by the increase in mining, an effect that was partially offset by the drop in other goods and manufacturing industry.

2. Trade
Trade activity increased 33.1%, driven by wholesale and retail trade. Though somewhat less, car sales also contributed to this result.
In seasonally-adjusted terms, trade posted a drop of 0.9% with respect to the month before.

3. Services
Services increased 16.3%, owing mainly to the contribution of personal services, particularly services and health care. Entrepreneurial services, transportation, and restaurants and hotels posted more moderate growth.
Seasonally-adjusted figures, meanwhile, show a drop of 2.8% with respect to the previous month.
Considering the challenges imposed by the sanitary crisis to the collection of basic data, the Central Bank of Chile has made extra efforts with its information providers to minimize the impact on the quality of statistics. It is worth noting, however, that the figures delivered on this occasion could be subject to greater revisions than has been the case historically. Said revisions will be disclosed in accordance with the National Accounts publication calendar available at the Bank’s website www.bcentral.cl.