Peru

The Republic of Peru is in Western South America bordering Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and the South Pacific Ocean. Peru is about the size of Alaska and covers an area of 1,285,220 sq. kilometers. The total population is 29.85 million and is growing at a rate of 1% with 77% living in urban areas. The capital of Lima has a population of 7.6 million with other main cities including Arequipa (734,000), Trujillo (600,000), and Chiclayo (490,000). The people are governed by a constitutional republic and are predominately Roman Catholic. The primary language is Spanish with the native Quechua also being an official language. The local currency is the Peruvian Nuevo Sol.

Peru is characterized by a wide variety of climates and an abundance of resources including minerals and metals. Its economy has experienced a period of growth since 2002, reducing the national poverty rate by 15% and moving towards a free-trade system. In February 2009 the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement entered into force. Peru’s main trade partners are the US, China, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Switzerland, and Spain. Its primary imports are petroleum and petroleum products, plastics, machinery, vehicles, iron and steel, wheat, and paper. Exports include copper, gold, zinc, crude petroleum and petroleum products, coffee, potatoes, asparagus, textiles, and fishmeal. Peru’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $332 billion and is growing at a real rate of 6.3% with an inflation rate of 3.7%. Peru ranked 43 out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking

Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Peru-

Viva Global Expansion! Trade Mission to Latin America (2012)

Latin American Market Sizzles with U.S. Franchisors (2012)

Doing Business in Peru(2011)

Latin American Market Sizzles with U.S. Franchisors(2012)

US Commercial Service Market Report Peru(2008)

The Future of Latin America(2007)

* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries. www.doingbusiness.org

Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise.