Production specialisation and technological specialisation in Peru: the role of the mining industry

This paper examines production and technological specialisation patterns of the Peruvian economy over the period 2003–2022, with focus on the mining industry. We analyse production specialisation through both export performance and the attraction of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) across industries. Our findings indicate that Peru is specialised primarily in the export (and production) of primary commodities—especially mining products—and exhibits a narrow pattern of FDI specialization, with an overconcentration of investment in the mining industry. We further examine whether this production specialisation in mining is accompanied by technological specialisation, drawing on multiple data sources. The evidence suggests that Peru is de-specialised in exporting upstream products such as mining equipment, while heavily dependent on imported technologies embodied in foreign mining machinery. This pattern highlights the limited presence of domestic equipment suppliers, who elsewhere play a key role in generating technologies that support global mining industries. Patent data show that Peru is specialised in producing mining innovation in particular parts of the mining value chain related to downstream activities. Beyond product-level specialisation, we also find that Peru’s inward FDI functional specialisation is largely confined to low value-added business functions, likely reflecting the structural dominance of the mining industry.