Uruguay

In 2023, cooking ingredients and meals registered a modest growth in volume terms, as it faced various challenges. The weaker purchasing power seen in 2022 has continued in 2023 and is impacting negatively on demand, although mainly in sweet spreads…

The picture is fairly positive in 2023, with constant value sales expected to rise slightly and inflationary pressure easing. However, rising prices are still an issue and the overall economy is expected to register a slowdown in growth.

Concentrates displayed a modest resurgence in off-trade volume sales following a decline in 2022, primarily propelled by decreased demand for powder concentrates. The tap water crisis, attributed to poor water quality due to high sodium content in…

The commodities country overview provides comprehensive data on production, consumption and price trends on key commodities markets. The commodities overview in Uruguay covers production and consumption trends in agricultural commodities, energy…

2023 saw colour cosmetics record positive volume growth for the third consecutive year as the return to pre-pandemic lifestyles meant that many local consumers had more reason to wear colour cosmetics. The return to working and socialising outside of…

Due to the drought suffered in Uruguay over the past two years, the quality of the running water was impacted in 2023, containing 400mg of sodium and being unsuitable for drinking. This was seen in the cities of Montevideo, Canelones and San Jose.…

The volume sales of cigars and cigarillos continued to grow in 2023. However, the category’s performance could have been even better if the price gap with Argentina had not been as large. The latter forced people to buy these products at the other…

In 2023, the retail volume sales of cigarettes posted an eighth annual consecutive decline. There were several driving forces behind this negative industry trend. On one hand, this was caused by a decline in smoking prevalence and a lower number of…

Cider has been losing share amongst Uruguay alcoholic drinks options for the last 15 years. Although it witnessed an unexpected strong bounce in 2020 (related to voluntary home seclusion during the pandemic) and further marginal growth in 2021, the…

In 2022, chocolate confectionery sales surpassed their pre-pandemic levels again in volume and real value terms and were expected to continue seeing positive growth in 2023. While impulse channels such as kiosks, which are included under small local…

Per capita cheese consumption in Uruguay is among the highest in Latin America and the world, due to its long tradition of cheese production. After a soft contraction in 2022, retail volume sales is expected to achieve positive growth in 2023.…

The past two years of drought in Uruguay have adversely affected the quality of running water, rendering it unsuitable for human consumption due to its 400mg sodium content. This issue was particularly prevalent in Montevideo, Canelones, and San…

Butter and spreads registered a modest increase in retail volume terms in 2022 and a similar performance is expected in 2023. As a mature category, there is little room for growth in butter and spreads. However, the category experienced high demand…

This report assesses the business environment in Uruguay, focusing on the regulatory environment, stability of the financial system, FDI intake, labour market flexibility and skillset, trade openness, mobility infrastructure, ICT adoption and…

In 2023, sales of breakfast cereals declined in retail volume and current value terms. The increase in prices, as well as the required health labels, warning about excess levels of sugar, has reduced demand for breakfast cereals. Children´s breakfast…

The drought experienced over the past two years in Uruguay severely impacted the quality of running water, rendering it unsuitable for human consumption due to its high sodium content of 400mg. This affected cities like Montevideo, Canelones, and San…

With the pandemic over, there was less frenzied cleaning, and as such bleach registered a fall in volume sales. That being said, there was a slight increase in constant value sales, due to price rises. Bleach is still a popular cleaning product in…

Almost all beers performed well in 2022, both in the off-trade and on-trade channels, and amongst beers, imported brands performed better than the average. Stella Artois and Nova Schin were amongst the most successful of the imported brands in 2022.

2023 saw Uruguay’s beauty and personal care industry face declining volume sales as cross-border shopping and the informal trade in parallel imports and contraband smuggled in from Argentina continues to erode demand for products distributed through…

2023 saw bath and shower register significant declines in volume sales and the main factor underpinning this trend is the huge gap that exists in prices between retail outlets in Uruguay and neighbouring Argentina, where the prices charged for a wide…