Peru’s economy grew more than 3% for a second straight month, in line with expectations, driven by strong performance in most sectors. The economic activity index, a proxy for gross domestic product, rose 3.23% from a year earlier, the national statistics agency INEI said Thursday. The result was slightly slower than July’s 3.6% reading and just below the 3.3% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Output rose 0.22% from a month earlier.
The reading signals Peru may be on its way to meeting the central bank forecast of 3.2% growth for 2026, driven by strong private investment and high metal prices. Those headwinds are expected to help cushion the impact on the economy from unusual weather conditions that have been undercutting agriculture, fishing and related industries earlier in the year. In the first eight months of 2026, economic activity rose 3.14%. August’s output was driven by strong performance in construction, retail sales and manufacturing, which expanded 10.34%, 6.89% and 4.18%, respectively. Weighing on output, mining fell 5.53%, while fishing declined 17.33%.
Peru is one of Latin America’s more stable economies, with growth outpacing regional peers and inflation among the lowest in emerging markets in recent years. But a series of supply shocks have seen annual consumer price increases print above the 3% top of the central bank’s target range for seven straight months, with rising food costs adding to the global energy shock. Earlier this month, policymakers surprisingly kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.25% for a 13th straight meeting.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing