Agriculture . In 2018, Brazil was the world's largest producer, with 746 million tons. South America produces half of the world's sugarcane. . In 2020, Brazil was the world's largest producer, with 130 million tons. South America produces half of the world's soybeans. . In 2018, Brazil was the world's largest producer, with 3.5 million tons. South America produces half of the world's coffee. . In 2018, Brazil was the world's largest producer, with 17 million tons. South America produces 25% of the world's oranges. Throughout history, since the
colonial period, the export of natural resources has been a key factor for South America's economy. With a land that can be divided into four
climatic regions (
tropical,
temperate,
arid and
cold),
South America is a diverse land rich in natural resources. It has a wide variety of agricultural products, mineral wealth, plentiful freshwater and rich fisheries. As one of the most important contributors of the world's agricultural market,
South America accounts for approximately 10% of the global agricultural product export. The different
climatic regions are home for diverse types of
crops. In the tropical climatic regions, two of the most important
cash crops are
coffee and
cacao. South America dominates the global market in
coffee production, having Brazil as the world's largest exporter of coffee. A report from the Council of Brazilian Coffee Exporters showed that the coffee industry earned US$5.4 billion in 2016, with the exports of different coffee varieties exceeding 34 million 60 kg bags. This accounts to 6.4% of Brazil's total annual
agrobusiness exports of US$84.9. The report showed that by December 2016, the Brazilian coffee industry generated US$557 million in revenue by exporting 3.07 million bags of
coffee. Additionally, in 2016
soybeans, grown in South America's
temperate climates, had an export value of US$19B for
Brazil, representing 10.4% of the total exports, and one of US$3.23B for
Argentina, representing 5.7% of the country's total exports. Moreover, the
soybean meal exportation represent 17.5% of Argentina's total exports, with an export value of $9.96B. as well as sugar (
sugarcane),
avocados,
bananas,
pineapples,
oranges,
grapefruits, and
mangoes. The
sugarcane cultivation has been the backbone of the economy since early colonial times, and Ecuador is the world's largest banana exporter (
Banana Production in Ecuador) In the
temperate regions,
maize (corn) is produced and it is the second most exported product in Argentinas. is one of the top 5 producers of
maize,
papaya,
tobacco,
pineapple,
banana,
cotton,
beans,
coconut,
watermelon,
lemon and
yerba mate; is one of the top 10 world producers of
cocoa,
cashew,
avocado,
tangerine,
persimmon,
mango,
guava,
rice,
oat,
sorghum and
tomato; and is one of the top 15 world producers of
grape,
apple,
melon,
peanut,
fig,
peach,
onion,
palm oil and
natural rubber; • Argentina is the world's largest producer of
yerba mate; is one of the 5 largest producers in the world of
soy,
maize,
sunflower seed,
lemon and
pear, one of the 10 largest producers in the world of
barley,
grape,
artichoke,
tobacco and
cotton, and one of the 15 largest producers in the world of
wheat,
oat,
chickpea,
sugarcane,
sorghum and
grapefruit; • Chile is one of the 5 largest world producers of
cherry and
cranberry, and one of the 10 largest world producers of
grape,
apple,
kiwi,
peach,
plum and
hazelnut, focusing on exporting high-value fruits; • Colombia is one of the 5 largest producers in the world of
coffee,
avocado and
palm oil, and one of the 10 largest producers in the world of
sugarcane,
banana,
pineapple and
cocoa; •
Peru is the world's largest producer of
quinoa; is one of the 5 largest producers of
avocado,
blueberry,
artichoke and
asparagus; one of the 10 largest producers in the world of
coffee and
cocoa; one of the 15 largest producers in the world of
potato and
pineapple, and also has a considerable production of
grape,
sugarcane,
rice,
banana,
maize and
cassava; its agriculture is considerably diversified; •
Paraguay's agriculture is currently developing, being currently the 6th largest producer of
soy in the world and entering the list of the 20 largest producers of
maize and
sugarcane.
Animal husbandry Brazil is the world's largest exporter of
chicken meat: 3.77 million tons in 2019. The country is the holder of the second largest herd of cattle in the world, 22.2% of the world herd. The country was the second-largest producer of beef in 2019, responsible for 15.4% of global production. It was also the 3rd largest world producer of milk in 2018. This year, the country produced 35.1 billion liters. In 2019, Brazil was the 4th largest pork producer in the world, with almost 4 million tons. In 2018,
Argentina was the 4th largest producer of
beef in the world, with a production of 3 million tons (behind only USA, Brazil and China).
Uruguay is also a major meat producer. In 2018, it produced 589 thousand tons of beef. In
chicken meat production, Argentina ranks among the 15 largest producers in the world, and Peru and Colombia are among the 20 biggest producers. In
beef production, Colombia is one of the 20 largest producers in the world. In
honey production, Argentina ranks among the 5 largest producers in the world, and Brazil among the 15 largest. In terms of production of
cow's milk, Argentina ranks among the 20 largest producers in the world.
Industry , the largest Brazilian pharmaceutical industry , the largest Brazilian chemical industry The
World Bank annually lists the top manufacturing countries by total manufacturing value. According to the 2019 list,
Brazil has the thirteenth most valuable industry in the world (US$173.6 billion),
Venezuela the thirtieth largest (US$58.2 billion, however, it depends on oil to obtain this value),
Argentina the 31st largest (US$57.7 billion),
Colombia the 46th largest (US$35.4 billion),
Peru the 50th largest (US$28.7 billion) and
Chile the 51st largest (US$28.3 billion). 80% of the manufacturing of the
Latin America region falls on Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
Brazil has the third-largest manufacturing sector in the Americas. Accounting for 28.5 percent of GDP, Brazil's industries range from automobiles, steel, and petrochemicals to computers,
aircraft (
Embraer), food, pharmaceutical, footwear, metallurgy and consumer durables. In the
food industry, in 2019, Brazil was the second largest exporter of processed foods in the world. In 2016, the country was the 2nd largest producer of
pulp in the world and the 8th producer of
paper. In the
footwear industry, in 2019, Brazil ranked 4th among world producers. In 2019, the country was the 8th producer of
vehicles and the 9th producer of
steel in the world. In 2018, the
chemical industry of Brazil was the 8th in the world. In
textile industry, Brazil, although it was among the 5 largest world producers in 2013, is very little integrated in world trade. In the aviation sector, Brazil has
Embraer, the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, behind
Boeing and
Airbus. In 2019, Argentina was the 31st world producer of
steel, the 28th producer of
vehicles, the 22nd world producer of
beer, the 4th world producer of
soybean oil and the 3rd world producer of
sunflower oil, among other industrial products.
Mining . Brazil is the world's second largest iron ore exporter. . South America is a major producer of gems such as amethyst, topaz, emerald, aquamarine and tourmaline
Mining is one of the most important economic sectors in South America, especially for Chile, Peru and Bolivia, whose economies are highly dependent on this sector. The continent has large productions of
gold (mainly in Peru, Brazil and Argentina);
silver (mainly in Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina);
copper (mainly in Chile, Peru and Brazil);
iron ore (Brazil, Peru and Chile);
zinc (Peru, Bolivia and Brazil);
molybdenum (Chile and Peru);
lead (Peru and Bolivia);
bauxite (Brazil);
tin (Peru, Bolivia and Brazil);
manganese (Brazil);
antimony (Bolivia and Ecuador);
nickel (Brazil);
niobium (Brazil);
rhenium (Chile);
iodine (Chile), among others.
Brazil stands out in the extraction of
iron ore (where it is the 2nd largest producer and exporter in the world – iron ore is usually one of the 3 export products that generate the greatest value in the country's trade balance),
copper,
gold,
bauxite (one of the 5 largest producers in the world),
manganese (one of the 5 largest producers in the world),
tin (one of the largest producers in the world),
niobium (concentrates 98% of reserves known to the world) and
nickel. In terms of gemstones, Brazil is the world's largest producer of
amethyst,
topaz,
agate and one of the main producers of
tourmaline,
emerald,
aquamarine,
garnet and
opal.
Chile contributes about a third of the world
copper production. In addition to copper, Chile was, in 2019, the world's largest producer of
iodine and
rhenium, the second largest producer of
lithium and
molybdenum, the sixth largest producer of
silver, the seventh largest producer of
salt, the eighth largest producer of
potash, the thirteenth producer of
sulfur and the thirteenth producer of
iron ore in the world. In 2019,
Peru was the 2nd largest world producer of
copper and
silver, 3rd largest world producer of
lead, 4th largest world producer of
tin, 5th largest world producer of
boron and 4th largest world producer of
molybdenum. 5th largest world producer of
tin; 7th largest producer of
zinc, and the 8th largest producer of
lead. In 2019,
Argentina was the 4th largest world producer of
lithium, In the production of
gold, among 2006 and 2017, the country produced 15 tons per year until 2007, when its production increased significantly, breaking a record of 66.1 tons extracted in 2012. In 2017, it extracted 52.2 tons. The country is among the 25 largest gold producers in the world. In the production of
silver, in 2017 the country extracted 15,5 tons. In the production of
oil, Brazil was the 9th largest producer in the world in 2024, with 3.5 million barrels / day. Mexico was the 11th, with about 1.84 million barrels / day. Argentina was the 17th, with 1.2 million barrels/ day. Venezuela was the 21st with 960 thousand barrels / day, followed by Columbia with 773 thousand barrels / day. Ecuador was 30th, producing 475 thousand barrels / day. As Venezuela and Ecuador consume little oil and export most of their production, they are part of
OPEC. Venezuela had a large drop in production after 2015 (where it produced 2.5 million barrels / day), falling in 2016 to 2.2 million, in 2017 to 2 million, in 2018 to 1.4 million and in 2019 to 877 thousand, due to lack of investments after the US imposed sanctions in 2017. In December of 2025, production fell to 800,000 barrels / day. Oil price shocks can cause oil producing economies to benefit economically for short periods of time as prices for the commodity increase. Venezuela's oil sector suffers from energy nationalism and US sanctions which have been in place for a decade. Most of oil out of Venezuela is purchased by China. The global demand for natural gas increased by 2.7%, reaching a new demand high in 2024. This is largely due to developing economies and emerging markets, especially in Asia. In the production of
natural gas, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela are current leaders for Latin America. Latin America's natural gas market generated US$35.9 million in revenue in 2025 and made up 2.0% of the global market. From 2022 to 2024, 297 banks invested $138.5 billion in fossil fuel projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 92% of financing coming from outside the region.
Tourism , one of the best hotels in South America, in Rio de Janeiro Tourism in South America is still little evolved: in Europe, for example, countries obtain annual tourist values such as U $73.7 billion (Spain), or U $67.3 billion (France). While Europe received 710 million tourists in 2018, Asia 347 million and North America 142.2 million, South America received only 37 million, Central America 10.8 million and the Caribbean 25.7 million. • Notes:
Green shadow denotes the country with the top indicator. Please note that the number of tourists does not always reflect the monetary amount the country gets from tourism. Some countries carry out higher levels of tourism, obtaining more benefits. ==Gallery==