Puerto Rico’s trade surplus widened sharply in 2025, rising 30% from the previous year as exports increased and imports grew only modestly, according to data released by the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.
Exports totaled $62.4 billion for the year, up 3.5% from 2024, while imports reached $55 billion, an increase of 0.79%. The resulting surplus reached $7.4 billion, compared with $5.7 billion the year before.
Ronald G. Hernández-Maldonado, manager of statistical projects at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, said the increase still leaves the island’s trade balance far below its 2015 peak of $28.6 billion, continuing a longer-term decline in the surplus.
On a monthly basis, the trade balance showed what the report described as “notable oscillations,” with 10 months posting surpluses and two months recording deficits. The deficits occurred in January and April, with April producing the largest shortfall of the year.
Puerto Rico’s external trade remains concentrated in a relatively small number of industries. The 10 largest export sectors accounted for 93.8% of total exports, while the 10 largest import categories represented 64.2% of total imports.
Manufacturing continues to dominate exports. Pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing made up five of the top 10 export categories, alongside electrical components and vehicles.
One category recorded a particularly large increase in 2025: Harmonized System code 2106, which groups unspecified food preparations, including syrups and concentrated beverage bases. Exports under that code rose to $3.3 billion from $611.4 million in 2024, a 436.3% increase.
Within the category, 94.4% of exports corresponded to preparations used in beverage manufacturing, including syrups and flavor bases for carbonated drinks, energy drinks and other beverages.
“A particularly relevant element within the performance of 2025 is the behavior of HTS code 2106,” Hernández said, adding that the expansion “modified the composition of exports and contributed in a notable way to the trade balance.”
He noted that shipments from several countries to the United States declined during the same period, citing lower exports from Singapore, Canada and China.
“The coincidence between the contraction of these countries and the increase of Puerto Rico’s exports in the same tariff code could be associated with a redistribution of participation in the United States market,” he said.
“From an economic perspective, this behavior is consistent with a process of reconfiguration of external trade, in which Puerto Rico strengthens its insertion in the United States supply chain, consolidating its competitive positioning within the trade balance,” Hernández said.
SOURCE: News is my Business
