According to preliminary information, last April the Imacec rose 6.9% over the same month a year before (figure 1). The seasonally-adjusted series posted a 0.3% drop with respect to the previous month and an 8.2% increase in twelve months. April 2022 came with one less working day than April 2021. The rise in the Imacec was mainly explained by services activity, followed by trade. Meanwhile, goods production dropped, affected by mining (figure 2). In turn, the drop in the seasonally-adjusted Imacec reflected the drop in goods production—particularly mining—, a result that was partly offset by the increase in trade (figure 3).

Imacec analysis by activity

1. Goods production
Goods production posted a drop of 4.7%, affected by the 9.3% fall in mining. Other goods and the manufacturing industry saw decreases of 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively.

In seasonally-adjusted terms, goods production dropped 1.8% from the previous month. This result was determined by every component, especially mining.

2. Trade
Trading activity grew 9.9%, driven mainly by retail sales, particularly in establishments specializing in clothing, footwear and household equipment, plus department stores. Automobile sales also contributed, although somewhat less, to trading activity.

Seasonally-adjusted figures showed an increase of 1.8% with respect to the previous month, a result mainly explained by the performance of automobile trade.

3. Services
Services rose 13.2%, reflecting the performance of personal services. The category was also influenced by the contribution of transportation, entrepreneurial services, and restaurants & hotels.

Seasonally adjusted, the services activities saw no change from the month before.

Considering the challenges posed by the sanitary crisis on 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 published on this occasion may by subject to more revisions than has been the case historically, which will be released in accordance with the National Accounts calendar of publications and revisions available on the Bank’s website www.bcentral.cl