Economy of Uruguay

Throughout Uruguay's history, their strongest exporting industries have been beef and wool. In the case of beef exports, they have been boosted since Uruguay joined the Mercosur agreement in 1991 and the country has been able trade with more distant markets, such as Japan. it produced 589 thousand tons of beef.As timber refining is being kept within the country, forestry has become a growth industry in recent years the country produced 1.36 million tons of rice, 1.33 million tons of soy, 816 thousand tons of maize, 637 thousand tons of barley, 440 thousand tons of wheat, 350 thousand tons of sugar cane, 106 thousand tons of orange, 104 thousand tons of grape, 90 thousand tons of rapeseed, 87 thousand tons of potato, 76 thousand tons of sorghum, 71 thousand tons of tangerine, 52 thousand tons of oats, 48 thousand tons of apple, in addition to smaller yields of other agricultural products.

Energy in Uruguay describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Uruguay. As part of climate mitigation measures and an energy transformation, Uruguay has converted over 98% of its electrical grid to sustainable energy sources (primarily solar, wind, and hydro).[22] Fossil fuels are primarily imported into Uruguay for transportation, industrial uses and applications like domestic cooking. Four hydroelectric dams provide a lot of the country's energy supply.

Although this is a sector that does not make substantial contributions to the country's economy, in recent years there has been some activity in gold and cement production, and also in the extraction of granite.Artigas Department is well known for its amethyst and agate quartz varieties mining. During 2010s 20 thousand tons of minerals were extracted with a value of 9 million of US dollars, exported to Germany, United States, Brazil and China.

Despite having poor levels of investment in the fixed-line sector, the small size of Uruguay's population has enabled them to attain one of the highest telecommunication density levels in South America and reach a 100% digitalization of main lines. Although the telecommunications sector has been under a state monopoly for some years, provisions have been made to introduce liberalization and to allow for the entry of more firms into the cellular sector.

In 2013, travel and tourism accounted for 9.4% of the country's GDP.Their tourist industry is mainly characterized for attracting visitors from neighboring countries. Currently Uruguay's major attraction is the interior, particularly located in the region around Punta del Este.