GCG Index: Latin America

Following the methodology used to calculate the global and European GCG Index (Gravity Center GATE), GATE Center analyzes the economic and commercial center of gravity of Latin America and the Caribbean.

From 1960 to 2000, the displacement of the region's economic center of gravity has followed a trend from the south to the northwest, rising from the state of Acre, Brazil, to the north of Colombia. These shifts are due, on the one hand, to the incorporation of Mexico into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), when its economy experienced a surge due to increased exports to the U.S. and Canada and the decline of Argentina and Venezuela.

From this point on, in 2010, Brazil gained weight in trade due, in part, to trade with China and the GCG shifted southward. In the last decade, Mexico regains its lost relevance, while Venezuela and Argentina continue to lose weight and once again shift the center of gravity to the north.