Every figure below carries its named source and year. The Eco Index scores twelve pillars on the same scale everywhere; seven are measured from published data with fixed thresholds, five are assessed from the named sources.
Chile at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
66%
of electricity
Food imported
12%
of merchandise imports · ~US$10,727m a year
The Eco Index across 12 pillars · scored 0 to 5 · World Bank, OWID, WHO/UNICEF JMP, FiBL, Protected Planet, IUCN, UNESCO (2023-24)
Water
Food & farming
Plant-based
Organic
Conservation
Wildlife
Materials
Pollution
Recycling
Energy
Culture
Heritage
Facts That Surprise People About Chile.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Chile, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingHealth
Nearly four in five adults are overweight
In 2022, 78.8% of adults in Chile were overweight, according to WHO estimates published by the World Bank.
Source: World Bank, Prevalence of overweight (% of adults): Chile · 2022
SoberingHealth
One in eight adults has diabetes
In 2024, 12.2% of Chilean adults had diabetes, about 1,863,700 people.
SoberingEnvironment
Fine particle air pollution
In 2023, people in Chile were exposed to an average of 23.1 micrograms of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) per cubic metre of air.
Source: World Bank, PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure: Chile · 2023
RemarkableFood
A world first in junk food warning labels
Chile's food labelling law, in force since 2016, was the first national rule to combine front of pack warning labels, limits on marketing to children and a ban on selling foods high in sugar, salt or saturated fat in schools.
RemarkableFood
Sugary drink purchases fell by almost a quarter
After the law took effect, household purchases of drinks carrying a high in warning fell by 23.7% compared with what was expected, and the calories bought from them by 27.5%.
RemarkableNature
More forest now than in 1990
Chile's forest area grew from about 168,100 km² in 1990 to about 181,700 km² in 2024, an increase of around 8%.
Source: World Bank, Forest area (sq. km): Chile · 2024
RemarkableNature
Over a third of its territory is protected
In 2025, 37.9% of Chile's land and sea territory was in protected areas.
The History of Chile.
Chile's folk dances, among them the many variants of the cueca, carry Spanish roots and traces of African heritage. In the far north the feast of Our Lady of Carmen at La Tirana is known for diablada devil dances that arrived from Oruro in Bolivia in 1952, and Aymara communities keep their oral expressions, music and weaving alive.
Where the name comes from
The name may come from chilli, a Mapuche word for 'where the land ends', or from the Quechua chiri, 'cold', according to Den Store Danske, the Danish national encyclopedia. The origin is not settled.
The land itself: low coastal mountains, a fertile central valley, and the Andes along the eastern edge. Its high point is Nevado Ojos del Salado, 6,893 m. Source: national mapping and survey records.
Where it starts
The oldest mummies in the world
A settlement at Monte Verde in the south, occupied around 13,000 radiocarbon years ago, preserved stone tools, wooden artefacts and plant remains. On the Atacama coast, Chinchorro communities were practising artificial mummification from around 5000 BC, the oldest known anywhere in the world, removing organs and rebuilding the body with clay, reeds and ash. They were fisherfolk, not kings, and the treatment was given to everyone, including the newborn.
How it got here
Mapuche resistance to 1990
The Inca ruled the north for nearly a century before the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century. In the south the Mapuche fought a century of war with Spain, from 1550 to 1656, and the Chilean state only took control of their lands in the 1880s. Chile became independent in 1818. Seventeen years of military rule followed a coup in 1973, until an elected president took office in 1990. The Chinchorro sites were inscribed as World Heritage in 2021.
The timeline
Late Pleistocene
Monte Verde.
A late Ice Age site in the south preserves stone tools, wooden artefacts and plant remains. Source
c. 5450 to 890 BC
The Chinchorro mummies.
Marine hunter-gatherers on the Atacama coast leave the oldest known artificially mummified bodies, taking the dead apart and putting them back together. Source
c. AD 1000 to 1500
Geoglyphs of the desert north.
On a hillside in the Azapa valley near Arica, huge figures of people, camelids, snakes and lizards are laid out in dark stones. About five hundred years ago Cerro Sagrado was a major place of worship for local people and for the llama caravans that passed along this route. Source
c. AD 100 onward
Mapuche.
The Mapuche descend from the Pitrén (AD 100 to 1100) and El Vergel (1100 to 1450) cultures of the south. When the Spanish arrive, Mapudungun is spoken from the Choapa river to Chiloé, and the Mapuche do not submit to outside rule until 1882. Source
Inca period
Inca expansion.
Inca influence reaches central Chile, where a cemetery of the period has been found in the upper Aconcagua valley. Source
1550 to 1656
Spanish rule.
The Spanish push south meets a century of war with the Mapuche, after which frontier relations leave the Mapuche among the most independent peoples of South America. Source
1818
Independence.
Chile proclaims independence on 12 February 1818. The year before, O'Higgins had asked citizens across the provinces to sign public registers at their cabildos and parishes, for or against, so the proclamation could rest on a recorded vote. Source
1973 to 1990
Dictatorship.
General Augusto Pinochet leads a military coup that overthrows President Salvador Allende in 1973, and military rule lasts until a democratically elected president takes office in 1990. Source
2021
World Heritage.
The Chinchorro settlement and mummification are inscribed as a World Heritage site. Source
UNESCO World Heritage, Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture · Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino · Memoria Chilena, La Guerra de Arauco (1550-1656) · Memoria Chilena, Proclamacion de la Independencia de Chile el 12 de febrero de 1818 · BBC News, Chile profile timeline · Pino Quivira and Dillehay, Monte Verde, South-Central Chile, Geoarchaeology 3(3) · Duran Serrano and Coros Cantin, Un hallazgo inca en el curso superior del Aconcagua, Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural 42 · CIA World Factbook, Chile background, archived data
Nature and Biodiversity in Chile.
Protected areas cover about 21.6% of Chile's land (World Bank, 2024) through an extensive national parks and reserves system, and marine protection is exceptional at roughly 41.2% of territorial waters (World Bank, 2024), among the largest in the world thanks to giant reserves around Rapa Nui, the Juan Fernandez and Desventuradas islands and Cape Horn. Coverage on paper outstrips management capacity, and researchers have repeatedly flagged chronic underfunding and understaffing of many terrestrial parks. The 2018 Rewilding Chile donation helped create the Route of Parks of Patagonia, adding millions of hectares of new national parkland.
Is wild Chile protected? 21.6% of the land is, against a 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Chile?
Forest cover24.5%
Terrestrial protected area21.6%
Marine protected area41.2%
315 listed as threatened.
Found only here. Monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana), alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), Chilean wine palm (Jubaea chilensis), Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes), pudu (Pudu puda), Juan Fernandez firecrown hummingbird.
The watchlist
ThreatenedWaved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (bird).
ThreatenedSpeckled Smoothhound (Mustelus mento) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (shark or ray).
ThreatenedLiolaemus paulinae Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (reptile).
ThreatenedEriosyce chilensis Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (plant).
ThreatenedChonta palm (Juania australis) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (plant).
ThreatenedAraucaria angustifolia Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (conifer).
ThreatenedMountain Catfish (Nematogenys inermis) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (species).
ThreatenedJuan Fernandez Firecrown (Sephanoides fernandensis) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (bird).
What is still here, and what is gone?
Tap a species for the honest status.
Closest to being lost, by name
Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Chile. GBIF holds 122 verified occurrence records.
Speckled Smoothhound (Mustelus mento)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Chile. GBIF holds 33 verified occurrence records.
Liolaemus paulinae
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Chile. GBIF holds 12 verified occurrence records.
Eriosyce chilensis
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Chile. GBIF holds 39 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for Chile filtered to the IUCN Red List threatened categories. Species are listed where GBIF holds occurrence records for them in this country. Record counts are not published here because the figure cannot be reproduced from a public GBIF query.
Who is putting it back
National park in Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region, mapped and named in the open record for Chile. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Valparaiso Region, mapped and named in the open record for Chile. OpenStreetMap.
National park, mapped and named in the open record for Chile. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Arica y Parinacota Region, mapped and named in the open record for Chile. OpenStreetMap.
National park, mapped and named in the open record for Chile. OpenStreetMap.
National park, mapped and named in the open record for Chile. OpenStreetMap.
Water and Ocean in Chile.
Chile's water is a study in extremes. Andean snowmelt and glaciers feed the major rivers, and the Patagonian south holds some of the planet's most abundant freshwater in its lakes and rivers, while the northern Atacama is hyper-arid and increasingly dependent on desalination and contested groundwater for mining. The densely populated central zone has endured a prolonged megadrought since around 2010, straining agriculture and urban supply.
Does Chile have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
97.8% of people here have safely managed drinking water at home (2024, WHO/UNICEF JMP). Tap water is safe for a visitor nearly everywhere.
Cleanest water: Aysen and Patagonian rivers and lakes such as the Baker and Futaleufu.
How much fresh water does Chile have, per person?
45,262 m³
Chile
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
Chile withdraws about 35,368 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 9.0% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as no water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 91%, homes and towns 4%, industry 5%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
What are the rules on Chile beaches?
·Tap water: Varies.
✓Plastic rules: Yes. Nationwide retail plastic-bag ban (2018, first in South America) and a single-use plastics law (Law 21.368, 2021)..
✕Solo travel: rated take care on the record for this destination.
✓Marine protection: 41.2% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge is met.
Named on the open map: Playa Ancha, Playa Arenal, Playa Bahía Jara, Playa Camping Olga, Playa Chépica, Playa El Kaleuche, Playa El Negro, Playa El Tabito. That is 19 named beaches in the public record for Chile, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
Where does the sewage go?
95.1%
of people have safely managed sanitation
95.1% of people here use a safely managed sanitation service, meaning waste is contained, emptied and treated rather than reaching the ground or the sea untreated (2024, World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP, SDG 6.2.1). That is close to universal coverage.
How is the sea around Chile doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Atacama is nearly rainless; Patagonia is wind and four seasons in a day.
Nearshore
Protected water
41.2% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Cleanest
Where the water is cleanest
Aysen and Patagonian rivers and lakes such as the Baker and Futaleufu..
The record
Measured
Chile's water is a study in extremes. Andean snowmelt and glaciers feed the major rivers, and the Patagonian south holds some of the planet's most abundant freshwater in its lakes and rivers, while the northern Atacama is hyper-arid and increasingly dependent on desalination and contested groundwater for mining.
Chile scored 69 out of 100 on the Ocean Health Index in its 2025 assessment, below the global average of 72, and ranked 138th of 220 coastal regions. The index team says it is no longer updating scores, so the 2025 figures may be the last.
Sea protected
41.2%
Against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Threatened species
184
Mammals, birds, fish and higher plants on the IUCN list.
Is the tap water safe in Chile?
97.8% of people have safely managed drinking water at home (2024, WHO/UNICEF JMP). Renewable fresh water works out at about 45,262 cubic metres per person a year (World Bank).
How hard is the water supply being pushed?
Of every 10 buckets nature refills, 1 are already taken. Withdrawals run at 9% of what Chile renews internally each year (2022, World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT). That is inside the 25% mark generally treated as water stress, so the supply has headroom.
When is the best time to visit Chile? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Chile actually have?
Nature renews about 45,262 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks Chile 197 of 208 countries measured, placing it among the 20 best-watered countries measured. The UN treats anything under 1,000 cubic metres as water scarce, and this is above that line. World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT.
Food and Drink in Chile.
Chile is the leading fruit producer and exporter of the Southern Hemisphere and leads world exports of cherries, grapes, blueberries and walnuts, according to ODEPA, the agriculture ministry's research office. It grows and exports more than 50 kinds of fruit.
Where does the food in Chile come from?
11.6% imported
about US$10,727m a year
On the plate: Bread (marraqueta, hallulla), potatoes, maize (choclo), beans (porotos), quinoa, avocado (palta), and abundant fresh fruit, wine.
1 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$10,727m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
About 11.6% of everything Chile buys in from abroad is food, roughly 1 in every 10 imported items on the dock (2025, World Bank). Farming itself is 3.5% of the economy and 14.4% of the land is agricultural, of which 1.9% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Chile? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined73.2%
Diabetes12.2%
OECD figures show 11.8 major lower limb amputations linked to diabetes per 100,000 people aged 15 and over in Chile in 2023, up from 9.2 in 2019, with a further 29 minor amputations, such as toes, per 100,000. Both rates are age and sex standardised and come from hospital data reported to the OECD. Italy, for comparison, recorded 2.7 major amputations per 100,000 in 2023. Source: OECD Healthcare Quality and Outcomes.
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 78.8%.
Can Chile feed itself?
1.9%
Arable land
14.4%
Agricultural land
626,331
Farmers
3,476,520
Arable acres
3.5%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Southern-hemisphere seasons; grape and stone-fruit harvest (vendimia) runs February to April, with summer produce December to March.
Feeding itself
Chile is one of the world's leading exporters of fresh fruit such as grapes, cherries, blueberries and apples, as well as wine and farmed salmon, and it grows abundant vegetables in its Mediterranean central valleys, so it is strongly agricultural and a net food exporter by value (ODEPA, Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile). It is, however, reliant on imports for staple grains, particularly wheat and feed maize.
Certification
Certified organic farmland covers roughly 156,819 hectares, about 1.0% of Chile's agricultural land (FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture 2025), which is low by international standards. Chile is nonetheless a notable organic exporter, shipping certified organic wine, berries and fruit to Europe and North America.
Water for crops
Chile's water is a study in extremes. Andean snowmelt and glaciers feed the major rivers, and the Patagonian south holds some of the planet's most abundant freshwater in its lakes and rivers, while the northern Atacama is hyper-arid and increasingly dependent on desalination and contested groundwater for mining.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certification covers only part of what is grown cleanly, so a small certified share is a gap in the paperwork rather than proof that nothing is. What the official land record does show: 14.4% of the country is agricultural land and 1.9% is arable (2023, World Bank). Certification is paid for per farm per year by a foreign body, which prices out smallholders, so the organic number reads worse than the practice.
What actually grows here
GrapesApplesWheatTomatoesPotatoesMaizeSugar beets
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Chile are grapes, apples, potatoes and wheat (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: La Vega Central, Santiago's big fruit and vegetable market, which stayed open through the 2020 lockdowns alongside the Lo Valledor wholesale market and the ferias libres, the city's street markets; and the Mercado Central on the south bank of the Mapocho river, a fish market on the outside with restaurants inside. Buying at the stalls pays the grower and the fisher rather than the supermarket chain.
Not yet checked by us. Plant based kitchens listed publicly: Piuke Cocina Vegana, vegan food truck in Santiago: sourdough Neapolitan style pizzas, burgers, salads and natural juices; Govinda's Restaurant Vegano Vegetariano, vegan restaurant in Santiago: empanadas, lasagne and lentil curry on a cheap lunch menu; La Bajonera Vegan, vegan sandwich bar in Santiago: sandwiches, burgers and a vegan pastel de choclo; Almacén Vegano Ostara, vegan shop and takeaway in Santiago: empanadas, completos, cakes and vegan cheeses; Vegan Tasty Pizza, vegan restaurant in Santiago: vegan Chilean classics, pizzas and a weekend buffet. Tell us how they are.
Is this grown in Chile?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
PotatoesQuinoa
World Bank Open Data · FAO, FAOSTAT crop production · World Health Organization · FAO AQUASTAT · Spinach, Piuke Cocina Vegana, Santiago · Spinach, Govinda's Restaurant Vegano Vegetariano, Santiago · Spinach, La Bajonera Vegan, Santiago · Spinach, Almacén Vegano Ostara, Santiago · Spinach, Vegan Tasty Pizza, Santiago · OECD Data Explorer, Primary care: diabetes lower extremity amputation (Healthcare quality and outcomes) · Radio Agricultura, Vocero de La Vega Central y posible desabastecimiento en Santiago (5 May 2020) · World Travel Guide, Shopping in Santiago · ODEPA, Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile, Frutas frescas y procesadas
Climate and Energy in Chile.
Chile has moved rapidly on clean energy, lifting renewables to about 70 per cent of electricity generation, with solar alone providing over a fifth of the grid thanks to the Atacama's exceptional resource. Per-capita emissions are moderate at roughly 4.8 tonnes of CO2 and falling as coal is retired. The 2022 National Energy Policy targets 80 per cent renewables by 2030 and net-zero by 2050, and Chile is widely regarded as a climate leader for its accelerated coal phase-out by 2040. The main caveat is that some mid-range emissions and remaining coal capacity persist.
What powers Chile?
Renewable 66.4%Fossil 33.6%
Chile's largest transmission company, Transelec, runs more than 10,000 km of high voltage lines. China Southern Power Grid owns 28 per cent of it, after buying Brookfield's stake in 2018 for US$1.3 billion, and three Canadian pension funds, CPP Investments, BCI and PSP, own the other 72 per cent. China Southern spent about two years negotiating to take control, but in June 2026 it dropped the deal, worth more than US$4 billion, over disagreements on price and structure and amid United States pressure on Chinese infrastructure investment in Latin America. Regulated prices are set through the National Energy Commission (CNE), and the system is coordinated by the separate Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
3.94 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
4.96 tonnes
The grid
Chile has moved rapidly on clean energy, lifting renewables to about 70 per cent of electricity generation, with solar alone providing over a fifth of the grid thanks to the Atacama's exceptional resource. Per-capita emissions are moderate at roughly 4.8 tonnes of CO2 and falling as coal is retired.
Pollution
Chile was the first country in South America to ban retail plastic bags nationwide (2018) and followed with a single-use plastics law (Law 21.368, 2021) restricting disposable food-service plastics. Air quality is moderate, with a national annual mean PM2.5 of about 16.6 micrograms per cubic metre (IQAir, 2024), still above the WHO guideline.
Water stress
Chile's water is a study in extremes. Andean snowmelt and glaciers feed the major rivers, and the Patagonian south holds some of the planet's most abundant freshwater in its lakes and rivers, while the northern Atacama is hyper-arid and increasingly dependent on desalination and contested groundwater for mining.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.32%
2Industry Copper mining (world's largest producer, heavy water use and tailings); industrial salmon farming in the southern fjords (antibiotics and escapes); pine and eucalyptus plantation forestry; coal power now being phased out..named
3Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.16.6
4On the record Chile was the first country in South America to ban retail plastic bags nationwide (2018) and followed with a single-use plastics law (Law 21.368, 2021) restricting disposable food-service plastics.
What has Chile promised on climate?
Net zero, whole economy2050
Electricity renewable today48.1% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target21.6% by 2025
Sea protected, against a 30% target41.2% by 2025
The net-zero target year on file with Climate Watch is 2050, status: in law; in policy document. Measured against it, 48.1% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 51.9% of the grid is still to be converted. The pledge on file is measured here against what has actually been delivered, not taken on its own (UNFCCC NDC Registry, CBD Kunming-Montreal Target 3).
The biggest line item
One return flight against a whole year of living.
A resident's entire year3.94 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy2.96 t CO2e
Dubai return, economy2.66 t CO2e
Frankfurt return, economy2.18 t CO2e
Paris return, economy2.1 t CO2e
London return, economy2.1 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Chile emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. In February 2018 the World Bank issued a US$500 million catastrophe bond giving Chile three years of earthquake cover, part of a joint issue that also covered Colombia, Mexico and Peru; the specialist publication Artemis describes it as the first catastrophe bond to provide insurance protection to the Republic of Chile. In March 2023 the World Bank arranged new earthquake cover for Chile: a US$350 million catastrophe bond plus US$280 million of catastrophe swaps, US$630 million in total, running three years and paying out on the depth, magnitude and location of a quake, with tsunami effects also covered.
Climate Watch (WRI) · UNFCCC NDC Registry · World Bank Open Data · UK DESNZ greenhouse gas conversion factors · Artemis, IBRD CAR 116 (Republic of Chile, 2018) · Artemis, IBRD Chile 2023 · El Dínamo, Las dudas y razones de China para desistir de tomar el control de Transelec (3 June 2026) · Comisión Nacional de Energía, home page news
AI and Data Centres in Chile.
Every prompt runs on a machine in a building on somebody’s grid. What that costs the planet depends less on the prompt than on what is burning to power it. Here is what would power one in Chile.
Data centres
49
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
66.4 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Chile?
A machine here runs mostly on renewables, but not entirely.
Renewable 66.4%Fossil 33.6%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 48.1% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it, so the same figure that decides this country's climate score also decides the footprint of the AI running inside it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. Chile has 49 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, concentrated in Santiago (30), Las Condes (2), Viña del Mar (2), alongside 9 internet exchanges (PIT Santiago, PIT Chile, PIT Concepcion, PIT Chile, PIT Temuco, PIT Chile, PIT entel). Named sites include Cirion Santiago de Chile, SAN1, Internexa Santiago de Chile, Bynarya, Servicios Informaticos Hostname.
Where the cables land. 19 landing points · Antofagasta, Arica, Caldera, Cartagena
Economy and Tourism in Chile.
79% residents to 21% visitors across a year. 5,431,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 19,859,921 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in Chile
5,431k
Visitors a year
0.3
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Chile?· for every $100 Chile earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 42What is owed now, for every $100 of national income (2026).
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · projected 2031
$ 49The IMF's own forecast has this rising to $49 by 2031.
IMF World Economic Outlook projection, 2031signed, the forecast
For every $100 Chile earns in a year, it owes $42 (2026, IMF World Economic Outlook). The interest on that is paid before schools, clinics or coastline get their turn.
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Chile?
Play one tourist dollar around the board. Every square is a measured fact from this page.
START!
1
GO: a visitor lands
$100 goes on the table. 5,431,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 19,859,921 residents, one visitor a year for every 4 residents (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in Chile is not published in the records we can check, so this square is left open rather than guessed. Where a listing names its owner, it is shown in the ownership table below.
not published3
The plate
Food is only 11.6% of everything Chile imports (2025, World Bank), so most of a meal is bought from producers inside the country. Eating what the land here actually grows, grapes, apples, wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, maize, sugar beets, keeps that money with the grower.
mostly home-grown4
The power
48.1% of the electricity is renewable (2021, World Bank), so the energy on the bill is mostly generated inside the country rather than shipped in.
made at home5
What actually stays
Of the two parts of a visitor's bill that can be measured here, the plate and the power stay inside Chile. This is not an economy where a visitor's money drains away, and the board is shorter for it.
most of it6
Pay the bank first
Chile owes $42 for every $100 it earns (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$42 per $1007
No plan B
29.8% of everything Chile sells abroad is ores, slag and ash (2023, UN Comtrade). One market moving takes the whole board with it.
29.8% one export8
Community chest
Tourism earns 1.3% of everything Chile makes from exports (2020, World Bank / UN Tourism). That is how much of the economy depends on the game continuing.
1.3% of exports9
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From Singapore a return economy seat is 2.96 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
2.96 t CO210
Back to GO
The economy turns over about US$408 billion a year (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). Every lap of this board is a choice about how much of it stays.
US$408bnGDPUS$357.4bn
Agriculture, share of GDP3.5%
Visitors a year5,431,000
Visitors per resident0.3
Residents~19,859,921
Agriculture
Farming is 3.5% of the economy. Chile is one of the world's leading exporters of fresh fruit such as grapes, cherries, blueberries and apples, as well as wine and farmed salmon, and it grows abundant vegetables in its Mediterranean central valleys, so it is strongly agricultural and a net food exporter by value (ODEPA, Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile).
Natural materials
Chile has genuine living natural-materials traditions. Mapuche weavers still make wool textiles coloured with natural dyes, the island of Chiloe keeps its own sheep-wool knitting and weaving culture, and the village of Rari sustains a horsehair (crin) weaving craft found almost nowhere else.
Energy
Chile has moved rapidly on clean energy, lifting renewables to about 70 per cent of electricity generation, with solar alone providing over a fifth of the grid thanks to the Atacama's exceptional resource. Per-capita emissions are moderate at roughly 4.8 tonnes of CO2 and falling as coal is retired.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Chile?
By rooms · company records and press.
Tierra Atacama · ~32 roomsIndependentnot published
Tierra Patagonia · ~40 roomsIndependentnot published
Mallin Colorado Ecolodge · ~10 roomsIndependentnot published
Visitors, over time
20144,601k
20155,487k
20166,712k
20177,621k
20186,603k
20195,431k
International tourism receipts run at about US$1.03 billion in 2020 (World Bank / UN Tourism). That is 1.3% of everything the country earns from exports.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
Visiting Chile, whoever you are.
Resort guest, villa renter, family, nomad or backpacker. The honest playbook for each, from the same sourced numbers.
Already booked a resort? · the rescue list
Five swaps that move your money back on-island
1. Eat where the country eats Choose kitchens cooking what the land here grows, grapes, apples, wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, maize and sugar beets, over an imported menu.
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays.
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books. Eco stays
4. Use the transport residents use A 4,300 km-long country: domestic flights (LATAM, Sky, JetSmart) link the extremes, long-distance buses are cheap and comfortable, Santiago has a modern metro, and Patagonia relies on the Carretera Austral and ferries.
5. Buy the craft, not the souvenir Natural-materials work made here pays the maker directly; imported gifts pay a shipping line.
Swipe
First time here
A 4,300 km ribbon of desert, vineyard, temperate rainforest and Patagonian ice, Chile pairs world-leading marine protection and ambitious rewilding with real central-zone water stress and very low recycling.
Best time: Spring to autumn.
Getting around
A 4,300 km-long country: domestic flights (LATAM, Sky, JetSmart) link the extremes, long-distance buses are cheap and comfortable, Santiago has a modern metro, and Patagonia relies on the Carretera Austral and ferries.
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate that actually grows here is grapes, apples, wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, maize and sugar beets. Ordering those keeps the money with the grower and cuts the imported share of the meal.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Cards widely accepted; CLP. Big distances, plan travel time.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Tierra AtacamaIndependent · 32 rooms
Tierra PatagoniaIndependent · 40 rooms
Mallin Colorado EcolodgeIndependent · 10 rooms
None of the 3 properties listed here publishes who ultimately owns it, so no claim is made either way. Ownership is what decides how much of a room rate stays in the country, which is why we show it when a listing states it.
Society and Governance in Chile.
How well is Chile actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, Chile scores 72 out of 100 (2024, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators). That is a state that generally does what it says it will do, which is what makes a climate pledge worth reading.
What is daily life in Chile really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around A 4,300 km-long country: domestic flights (LATAM, Sky, JetSmart) link the extremes, long-distance buses are cheap and comfortable, Santiago has a modern metro, and Patagonia relies on the Carretera Austral and ferries.
96.4%
literacy. Public spending on education runs at 4.9% of GDP and 18.4% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment stands at 105.6% gross (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2022 to 2024).
Made in Chile.
Chile has genuine living natural-materials traditions. Mapuche weavers still make wool textiles coloured with natural dyes, the island of Chiloe keeps its own sheep-wool knitting and weaving culture, and the village of Rari sustains a horsehair (crin) weaving craft found almost nowhere else. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Chile actually sells the world
The single biggest thing Chile sells the world is ores, slag and ash, 29.8% of all exports in 2023 (about US$27.72 billion, UN Comtrade). The next four are copper at 21.2%, inorganic chemicals at 8.5%, fruit and nuts at 8.1%, fish and seafood at 7.8%.
Sells now · 29.8% of exports
Ores, slag and ash
Ores, slag and ash is 29.8% of everything Chile sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$27.72 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 21.2% of exports
Copper
Copper is 21.2% of everything Chile sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$19.68 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 8.5% of exports
Inorganic chemicals
Inorganic chemicals is 8.5% of everything Chile sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$7.93 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 8.1% of exports
Fruit and nuts
Fruit and nuts is 8.1% of everything Chile sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$7.50 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 7.8% of exports
Fish and seafood
Fish and seafood is 7.8% of everything Chile sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$7.29 billion. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 20.8% of imports
Mineral fuels and oils
Chile imported US$17.68 billion of mineral fuels and oils in 2023, 20.8% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 12.2% of imports
Machinery and mechanical appliances
Chile imported US$10.40 billion of machinery and mechanical appliances in 2023, 12.2% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 10.0% of imports
Electrical machinery and electronics
Chile imported US$8.52 billion of electrical machinery and electronics in 2023, 10.0% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 9.5% of imports
Vehicles
Chile imported US$8.08 billion of vehicles in 2023, 9.5% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
The maths for an entrepreneur. Chile produces about US$357 billion a year, which is roughly US$17,995 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 3.5% of that, while food is 11.6% of everything the country imports. The country buys in more food than its own farms contribute to the economy, and every point of that gap is a business someone could build here rather than ship in.
See the verified makersCulture in Chile.
Cueca
A festive dance whose many variants became part of Chilean folk music, with Spanish roots and traces of African heritage.
UNESCO good practice register since 2009
Aymara oral traditions and music
Aymara communities of Tarapaca, Arica and Parinacota and Antofagasta keep their oral expressions, music, weaving and farming knowledge, shared with Bolivia and Peru.
La Tirana festival
The feast of Our Lady of Carmen at La Tirana in the far north, known for its diablada devil dances, which came from Oruro in Bolivia in 1952.
Mapuche ngillatun ceremony
One of the most important Mapuche ceremonies, a collective prayer whose dances and prayers follow the number of the four heavens.
Machi ancestral spirituality
Machi are Mapuche shamans who invoke the four great deities, the Elder Male, Elder Female, Young Male and Young Female. The four-part world they call on is drawn on the kultrun, the ceremonial drum.
Does Chile protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Chile's national dance, the cueca, and its Andean and folk music remain widely performed, and northern festivals such as La Tirana blend Catholic and Aymara ancestral devotion. The Mapuche sustain living spiritual traditions including the ngillatun ceremony, the guidance of the machi and the game of palin. On Rapa Nui, Polynesian dance, song and carving continue as a distinct living culture.
Who it belongs to. Chile has living Indigenous cultures, above all the Mapuche, the country's largest Indigenous people, alongside the Aymara and Quechua of the north, the Atacameno (Lickan Antay), the Rapa Nui of Easter Island and the Kawesqar and Yagan of the far south. Community-based tourism is real and growing, with Rapa Nui National Park co-managed by the Ma'u Henua Indigenous community and Mapuche and Atacameno communities running their own rural tourism and guiding. Mainstream tourism around Torres del Paine, the wine country and the Atacama is largely operator-led rather than community-owned, and Indigenous communities continue to face land conflicts and marginalisation.
Only here. The Atacama desierto florido, when the world's driest non-polar desert bursts into carpets of flowers after rare rains..
UNESCO · Memoria Chilena, El folclor musical de Chile y sus tres grandes raices · UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of Aymara communities in Bolivia, Chile and Peru · Memoria Chilena, Diabladas · Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Mapuche beliefs and funeral rites
The Future of Chile.
Three futures for Chile, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Botanical Garden Tau Kiani (Easter Island), National Botanical Garden of Viña del Mar (Viña del Mar). OpenStreetMap. Named craft workshops on the open map: Arte Color, ArteSana, Artesania Tradicional Losa De Greda, Artesania de Pomaire, Artesanias, Artesanias Tierra de luz.
Every measured trend on one line
Run forward at the pace already recorded.
World Bank open data, recorded series
How much forest is left?
Forest cover moved from 23% to 24.5% across 29 recorded years.
How clean is the grid?
Renewable electricity moved from 72.4% to 48.1% across 26 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 2.88 t to 3.94 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 3,713k to 5,431k across 11 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 18.3% to 21.6% across 12 recorded years.
How many people still farm?
Farm workforce moved from 13.7% to 6.07% across 30 recorded years.
How much sea is protected?
Protected sea moved from 4.4% to 41.2% across 12 recorded years.
How much land is farmed?
Agricultural land moved from 20.6% to 14.4% across 29 recorded years.
How fast is it urbanising?
Urban population moved from 84.4% to 89.2% across 30 recorded years.
Is the air getting cleaner?
Air pollution moved from 25.9 µg/m³ to 23.1 µg/m³ across 28 recorded years.
Is water getting scarcer?
Fresh water per person moved from 60,919 m³ to 45,262 m³ across 27 recorded years.
Is diet-related disease rising?
Adult overweight moved from 51.8% to 78.8% across 27 recorded years.
Who has power?
Electricity access moved from 95.8% to 99% across 29 recorded years.
Is income rising?
GDP per person moved from 5,081 to 17,995 across 30 recorded years.
How fast is it growing?
Population moved from 14,527k to 19,860k across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 34.2% to 24.2% across 26 recorded years.
How much energy does one person use?
Energy per person moved from 1,263 kg to 2,067 kg across 29 recorded years.
How much land and sea is protected together?
Protected area, total moved from 6.8% to 37.9% across 12 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 75.3 yrs to 81.4 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much does a hectare of cereal produce?
Cereal yield moved from 4,472 kg/ha to 6,606 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 191 kg/ha to 264 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 15.6% to 10.8% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 4.45 $/m3 to 7.89 $/m3 across 27 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 7% to 10.5% across 24 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 171,178 km2 to 181,619 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How much electricity per person?
Electric power use moved from 1,728 kWh to 4,348 kWh across 30 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 10.63 to 9.86 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have building emissions moved?
Building emissions moved from 3.77 to 7.6 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 10.66 to 22.47 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 31.51 to 76.23 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have industrial processes emissions moved?
Industrial Processes emissions moved from 1.09 to 5.1 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have manufacturing/construction emissions moved?
Manufacturing/Construction emissions moved from 6.46 to 15.23 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
Worst caseCurrent pathBest case
Worst case
Every measured decline continues at the pace already recorded. The weakest pillar, recycling at 1/5, is the one that gives way first.
Computed from: recorded series extended with no policy change
What the best case actually asks for
Lift recycling
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Chile's record. Chile recovers only a small fraction of its municipal waste, in the low single digits by most estimates, with the great majority of household rubbish still landfilled.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift organic farming
It scores 2 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Chile's record. Certified organic farmland covers roughly 156,819 hectares, about 1.0% of Chile's agricultural land (FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture 2025), which is low by international standards.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift plant-based eating
It scores 3 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Chile's record. Traditional Chilean cooking is meat-forward, built around the asado, empanadas and the completo, but the country grows and eats a wealth of fresh produce, from avocados (palta) and beans (porotos) to maize, quinoa and an enormous variety of fruit.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Chile.
Who is in charge of Chile now · Office-holders from the UN Protocol and Liaison Service public list of Heads of State and Heads of Government, 20 October 2026. Legislature and election dates from IFES ElectionGuide. Constitution dates from the Constitute Project. Governance scores from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 2024.
José Antonio Kast
President
José Antonio Kast is the head of government of Chile, in office since 11 March 2026. Every climate, protection and energy pledge on this page is delivered, or not, under this administration.
Public opinion, measured
Voice and accountability, the freedom to question government scores 76.7 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 76.4 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 70.2 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 71.1 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 68.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 70.5 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Rule of law scores 69.8 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 70.2 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 66.4 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 68.1 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
José Antonio KastPresident
National Congress (Congreso Nacional)Legislature, bicameral
Last election16 November 2025
Constitution1980, as revised to 2021
Government typepresidential republic
Chile national goals: climate commitments on record · as recorded by Climate Watch, World Resources Institute
Plain Answers About Chile.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
Swipe
Is Chile sustainable?
Chile scores 67 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. A 4,300 km ribbon of desert, vineyard, temperate rainforest and Patagonian ice, Chile pairs world-leading marine protection and ambitious rewilding with real central-zone water stress and very low recycling.
Is the water in Chile safe and plentiful?
Chile's water is a study in extremes. Andean snowmelt and glaciers feed the major rivers, and the Patagonian south holds some of the planet's most abundant freshwater in its lakes and rivers, while the northern Atacama is hyper-arid and increasingly dependent on desalination and contested groundwater for mining. The densely populated central zone has endured a prolonged megadrought since around 2010, straining agriculture and urban supply.
Can Chile feed itself?
Chile is one of the world's leading exporters of fresh fruit such as grapes, cherries, blueberries and apples, as well as wine and farmed salmon, and it grows abundant vegetables in its Mediterranean central valleys, so it is strongly agricultural and a net food exporter by value (ODEPA, Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile). It is, however, reliant on imports for staple grains, particularly wheat and feed maize.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in Chile?
Traditional Chilean cooking is meat-forward, built around the asado, empanadas and the completo, but the country grows and eats a wealth of fresh produce, from avocados (palta) and beans (porotos) to maize, quinoa and an enormous variety of fruit. Santiago and other cities have a fast-growing vegetarian and vegan scene, and legumes and fresh vegetables are cheap and widely available. Eating unprocessed, plant-based food is straightforward without being the cultural default.
How much of Chile is actually protected?
Protected areas cover about 21.6% of Chile's land (World Bank, 2024) through an extensive national parks and reserves system, and marine protection is exceptional at roughly 41.2% of territorial waters (World Bank, 2024), among the largest in the world thanks to giant reserves around Rapa Nui, the Juan Fernandez and Desventuradas islands and Cape Horn. Coverage on paper outstrips management capacity, and researchers have repeatedly flagged chronic underfunding and understaffing of many terrestrial parks. The 2018 Rewilding Chile donation helped create the Route of Parks of Patagonia, adding millions of hectares of new national parkland.
What wildlife is left in Chile?
Chile's geographic isolation between the Andes, the Atacama and the Pacific has produced high endemism, including the monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana), the ancient alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides, among the oldest living trees on Earth), the Chilean wine palm, Darwin's fox and the pudu, the world's smallest deer. Patagonia holds iconic megafauna such as the puma, guanaco, Andean condor and the endangered huemul that appears on the national coat of arms. Chile is also home to one of the planet's most ambitious rewilding programmes, the Tompkins and Rewilding Chile initiative, which created and handed national parks to the state and is reintroducing native species.
Is Chile on clean energy?
Chile has moved rapidly on clean energy, lifting renewables to about 70 per cent of electricity generation, with solar alone providing over a fifth of the grid thanks to the Atacama's exceptional resource. Per-capita emissions are moderate at roughly 4.8 tonnes of CO2 and falling as coal is retired. The 2022 National Energy Policy targets 80 per cent renewables by 2030 and net-zero by 2050, and Chile is widely regarded as a climate leader for its accelerated coal phase-out by 2040.
How polluted is Chile?
Chile was the first country in South America to ban retail plastic bags nationwide (2018) and followed with a single-use plastics law (Law 21.368, 2021) restricting disposable food-service plastics. Air quality is moderate, with a national annual mean PM2.5 of about 16.6 micrograms per cubic metre (IQAir, 2024), still above the WHO guideline. The picture is very uneven, as several central-southern cities such as Coyhaique, Temuco and Osorno suffer severe winter particulate pollution from wood-burning heating, among the worst in the Americas.
Does recycling work in Chile?
Chile recovers only a small fraction of its municipal waste, in the low single digits by most estimates, with the great majority of household rubbish still landfilled. The 2016 Extended Producer Responsibility law (Ley REP, Law 20.920) makes producers responsible for financing the collection and recycling of priority products such as packaging, tyres and batteries, but its mandatory recycling targets are only now being phased in. Kerbside separate collection remains limited and patchy.
Is the farming in Chile organic?
Certified organic farmland covers roughly 156,819 hectares, about 1.0% of Chile's agricultural land (FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture 2025), which is low by international standards. Chile is nonetheless a notable organic exporter, shipping certified organic wine, berries and fruit to Europe and North America. Uptake is concentrated in export horticulture rather than in the domestic market.
Are there natural materials and craft in Chile?
Chile has genuine living natural-materials traditions. Mapuche weavers still make wool textiles coloured with natural dyes, the island of Chiloe keeps its own sheep-wool knitting and weaving culture, and the village of Rari sustains a horsehair (crin) weaving craft found almost nowhere else. Willow and vegetable-fibre basketry and the woven straw chupalla hat remain in everyday use.
Is there living culture in Chile?
Chile has living Indigenous cultures, above all the Mapuche, the country's largest Indigenous people, alongside the Aymara and Quechua of the north, the Atacameno (Lickan Antay), the Rapa Nui of Easter Island and the Kawesqar and Yagan of the far south. Community-based tourism is real and growing, with Rapa Nui National Park co-managed by the Ma'u Henua Indigenous community and Mapuche and Atacameno communities running their own rural tourism and guiding. Mainstream tourism around Torres del Paine, the wine country and the Atacama is largely operator-led rather than community-owned, and Indigenous communities continue to face land conflicts and marginalisation.
What heritage does Chile keep alive?
Chile's national dance, the cueca, and its Andean and folk music remain widely performed, and northern festivals such as La Tirana blend Catholic and Aymara ancestral devotion. The Mapuche sustain living spiritual traditions including the ngillatun ceremony, the guidance of the machi and the game of palin. On Rapa Nui, Polynesian dance, song and carving continue as a distinct living culture.
So is Chile actually green? The measured answer
What is working: sea protected at 41.2%.
What is not: renewable electricity at 48.1% against a 100% mark.
World Bank Open Data · Protected Planet (UNEP-WCMC / WDPA) · Climate Watch (WRI) · Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026 · World Bank, World Development Indicators, Chile (population, protected land, renewable electricity, CO2 per capita, NCD deaths) · CIA World Factbook, Chile (geography and climate), archived data
How Chile Ranks, region and world.
Where Chile sits on the Eco Index, against its South America neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Chile compare in South America?
1Brazil73
2Peru72
3Colombia70
4Ecuador70
Scored South America destinations, Eco Index.
The global top 10 of the 77 destinations scored
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
5Australia77
6Portugal75
7Germany75
8New Zealand75
9Italy73
10Spain73
Chile sits 32 of 77 at 67/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Chile particularly good at?
✓ Water, scored 5/5. Chile's water is a study in extremes. Andean snowmelt and glaciers feed the major rivers, and the Patagonian south holds some of the planet's most abundant freshwater in its lakes and rivers, while the northern Atacama is hyper-arid and increasingly dependent on desalination and contested groundwater for mining. The densely populated central zone has endured a prolonged megadrought since around 2010, straining agriculture and urban supply. Drinking-water quality is high, with about 97.6% of Chileans using safely managed drinking water (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2022), and urban tap water is treated and potable though heavily mineralised.
✓ Conservation, scored 5/5. Protected areas cover about 21.6% of Chile's land (World Bank, 2024) through an extensive national parks and reserves system, and marine protection is exceptional at roughly 41.2% of territorial waters (World Bank, 2024), among the largest in the world thanks to giant reserves around Rapa Nui, the Juan Fernandez and Desventuradas islands and Cape Horn. Coverage on paper outstrips management capacity, and researchers have repeatedly flagged chronic underfunding and understaffing of many terrestrial parks. The 2018 Rewilding Chile donation helped create the Route of Parks of Patagonia, adding millions of hectares of new national parkland.
✓ Food and farming, scored 4/5. Chile is one of the world's leading exporters of fresh fruit such as grapes, cherries, blueberries and apples, as well as wine and farmed salmon, and it grows abundant vegetables in its Mediterranean central valleys, so it is strongly agricultural and a net food exporter by value (ODEPA, Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile). It is, however, reliant on imports for staple grains, particularly wheat and feed maize. Fresh, seasonal, locally grown produce is easy to find in every market.
Where does Chile score worst?
✕ Recycling, scored 1/5. Chile recovers only a small fraction of its municipal waste, in the low single digits by most estimates, with the great majority of household rubbish still landfilled. The 2016 Extended Producer Responsibility law (Ley REP, Law 20.920) makes producers responsible for financing the collection and recycling of priority products such as packaging, tyres and batteries, but its mandatory recycling targets are only now being phased in. Kerbside separate collection remains limited and patchy.
✕ Organic farming, scored 2/5. Certified organic farmland covers roughly 156,819 hectares, about 1.0% of Chile's agricultural land (FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture 2025), which is low by international standards. Chile is nonetheless a notable organic exporter, shipping certified organic wine, berries and fruit to Europe and North America. Uptake is concentrated in export horticulture rather than in the domestic market.
✕ Plant-based eating, scored 3/5. Traditional Chilean cooking is meat-forward, built around the asado, empanadas and the completo, but the country grows and eats a wealth of fresh produce, from avocados (palta) and beans (porotos) to maize, quinoa and an enormous variety of fruit. Santiago and other cities have a fast-growing vegetarian and vegan scene, and legumes and fresh vegetables are cheap and widely available. Eating unprocessed, plant-based food is straightforward without being the cultural default.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Recycling, 1/5
Chile recovers only a small fraction of its municipal waste, in the low single digits by most estimates, with the great majority of household rubbish still landfilled.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of Chile's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Organic farming, 2/5
Certified organic farmland covers roughly 156,819 hectares, about 1.0% of Chile's agricultural land (FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture 2025), which is low by international standards. Chile is nonetheless a notable organic exporter, shipping certified organic wine, berries and fruit to Europe and North America.
Plant-based eating, 3/5
Traditional Chilean cooking is meat-forward, built around the asado, empanadas and the completo, but the country grows and eats a wealth of fresh produce, from avocados (palta) and beans (porotos) to maize, quinoa and an enormous variety of fruit.
The Chile Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Chile, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Chile
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
24.5
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
21.6
World Bank, 2025.
Protected sea
41.2
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
48.1
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
3.9
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
315
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
70.2 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
73.7 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Rule of law
69.8 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Political stability
68.6 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
76.7 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
51.0 / 100 · 41 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 41 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
49.4 / 100 · 54 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 54 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
41.4 / 100 · 92 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 92 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
47.9 / 100 · 64 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 64 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
56.1 / 100 · 90 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 90 of 177 countries assessed.
Marine habitat protected
44.3 / 100 · 26 of 111
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 26 of 111 countries assessed.
How Chile Is Scored. The Throne Standard.
Every destination on the index is scored the same way, so a 4 in Barbados means exactly what a 4 means in Iceland. No self-declared data and no brochure claims are accepted. Seven pillars are scored from published measurements with the same fixed thresholds everywhere: energy (low-carbon share of electricity, 90% or more scores 5, 70% 4, 50% 3, 25% 2), conservation (land and sea protected), water (safe drinking water, wastewater treated, water stress), organic farmland, recycling, food import dependence and air quality. Where a measurement is not published for a place, that pillar keeps its source-assessed score and is labelled as such. Wildlife, culture, heritage, materials and plant-based eating have no comparable measurement and are assessed from the named sources. The Eco Index is the average of the twelve pillar scores multiplied by 20. Every figure on this page carries its named source and year, and the history on each page names what empire took as plainly as it scores the present.
The 12 pillars every destination is scored on, equally weighted
01
Water
Safe drinking water, wastewater treated and water stress. Measured.
02
Food & farming
How much of the import bill is food: whether the place feeds itself. Measured.
03
Plant-based
How easy it is to eat plant-based, from documented sources.
04
Organic
Certified organic share of farmland. Measured.
05
Conservation
Land and sea legally protected, against the 30 by 30 goal. Measured.
06
Wildlife
What survives, what is endemic, what is lost, from documented sources.
07
Materials
Local natural fibres and craft, from documented sources.
08
Pollution
Air quality (PM2.5, measured) and plastics and waste policy.
09
Recycling
Share of municipal waste recycled. Measured.
10
Energy
Low-carbon share of electricity, nuclear included. Measured.
11
Culture
Living culture and community-led visits, from documented sources.
12
Heritage
What the law keeps standing, from documented sources.
What each 0 to 5 pillar score means, in plain words
0
Absent
nothing verifiable exists
1
Failing
measurably going the wrong way
2
Weak
claims outrun delivery
3
Fair
real effort, mixed results
4
Strong
genuinely good, evidence named
5
Leading
world class, and the trend holds
Where the numbers come from.
The institutions above are the ones cited on this page, ranked by how many of its figures they carry. This same sectioned page renders for all 77 scored destinations, each with its own researched history, comparison charts and three-way future. Read the full methodology
Every figure on this page, and where it came from: 106 sources across 43 institutions
World Bank15 FIGURES
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area), Chile, 2024 (21.6%) check
- Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters), Chile, 2024 (41.2%) check
- CO2 emissions per capita EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, 2024 check
- Renewable electricity output (% of total) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 check
- GDP (current US$) NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, 2025 check
- International tourist arrivals ST.INT.ARVL, 2019 check
- Agricultural land (% of land area) AG.LND.AGRI.ZS, 2023 check
- Arable land (% of land area) AG.LND.ARBL.ZS, 2023 check
- Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS, 2025 check
- Adult literacy rate SE.ADT.LITR.ZS, 2017 check
- Renewable internal freshwater per capita (m3) ER.H2O.INTR.PC, 2022 check
- Safely managed sanitation (% of population) SH.STA.SMSS.ZS, 2024 check
- Overweight prevalence, adults (%) SH.STA.OWAD.ZS, 2022 check
- Central government debt (% of GDP) GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, 2000 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
GBIF10 FIGURES
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Elasmobranchii, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (shark or ray). check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Elasmobranchii corroboration check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Elasmobranchii corroboration check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Reptilia, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (reptile). check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Reptilia corroboration check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, kingdom Plantae, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (plant). check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, kingdom Plantae corroboration check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Pinopsida, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (conifer). check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Pinopsida corroboration check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Pinopsida corroboration check
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile5 FIGURES
- Ley Chile, Ley 21.100, Chile was the first country in South America to ban retail plastic bags nationwide (2018) and followed with a check
- Ley Chile, Ley 21.100 corroboration check
- Ley Chile, Ley 21.100 corroboration check
- Ley Chile, Ley 21.100 corroboration check
- Ley Chile, Ley 21.100 corroboration check
Convention on Biological Diversity5 FIGURES
- Chile country profile (Secretariat of the CBD), Chile's geographic isolation between the Andes, the Atacama and the Pacific has produced high endemism, includ check
- Chile country profile (Secretariat of the CBD) corroboration check
- Chile country profile (Secretariat of the CBD) corroboration check
- Chile country profile (Secretariat of the CBD) corroboration check
- Chile country profile (Secretariat of the CBD) corroboration check
ODEPA (Oficina de Estudios y Politicas Agrarias)5 FIGURES
- Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile, Frutas frescas y procesadas, Chile is one of the world's leading exporters of fresh fruit such as grapes, cherries, blueberries and apples check
- Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile, Frutas frescas y procesadas corroboration check
- Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile, Frutas frescas y procesadas corroboration check
- Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile, Frutas frescas y procesadas corroboration check
- Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile, Frutas frescas y procesadas corroboration check
Subdireccion Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial5 FIGURES
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile, Mapuche weavers still make wool textiles coloured with natural dyes, the island of Chiloe keeps its own sheep- check
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile corroboration check
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile corroboration check
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile corroboration check
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile corroboration check
Museo de Historia Natural de Valparaiso4 FIGURES
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile, On the Atacama coast, Chinchorro communities were practising artificial mummification from around 5000 BC, the check
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile corroboration check
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile corroboration check
- Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile corroboration check
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_TERR, Chile, 2025 (33.3%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, marine Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_MRN_MPA, Chile, 2025 (28.1%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_FRHWTR, Chile, 2025 (46.8%), country-reported check
CONAF (Corporacion Nacional Forestal)3 FIGURES
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, Chile, 2025 (24.4%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, Chile, 2025 (0.12%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, Chile, 2025 (23.9%), country-reported check
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)3 FIGURES
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Aves, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Chile in GBIF occurrence data (bird). check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Aves corroboration check
- occurrence search, Chile, IUCN category Critically Endangered, class Aves corroboration check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)3 FIGURES
CONAF2 FIGURES
Government of Chile2 FIGURES
Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas de Chile (INE)2 FIGURES
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)2 FIGURES
UNESCO2 FIGURES
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme2 FIGURES
Around 141 FIGURE
- 500 years old, the published age for the Monte Verde II occupation (Dillehay et al., PLOS ONE 2015) check
Climate Action Tracker1 FIGURE
- Chile check
Climate Watch (WRI)1 FIGURE
- Net-Zero Tracker check
COCHILCO (Comision Chilena del Cobre)1 FIGURE
- Copper mining (world's largest producer, heavy water use and tailings); industrial salmon farming in the south check
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Chile 1980 (rev. 2021) check
Corporacion Nacional Forestal1 FIGURE
- Chile, national protected-area and wildlife authority check
Ember1 FIGURE
- Global Electricity Review, national generation mix check
FAO1 FIGURE
- FAOSTAT Crops and livestock products (QCL), bulk data for the Americas corroboration check
FiBL & IFOAM1 FIGURE
- The World of Organic Agriculture 2025 (Chile 156,819 ha, about 1.0% organic) check
IEA, World Energy Balances1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, renewable share of total final energy consumption (%) EG_FEC_RNEW, Chile, 2023 (31.2%), modelled estimate check
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- Chile elections and chambers check
Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas1 FIGURE
- Chile, national statistical authority check
InvestChile / Coordinador Electrico Nacional1 FIGURE
- Electricity generation in Chile 2024 (68% renewable) check
IQAir1 FIGURE
- World Air Quality Report 2024, Chile annual mean PM2.5 16.6 micrograms per cubic metre check
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species1 FIGURE
- Chile totals 2024 (about 205 threatened animal species and 110 threatened plant species, roughly 315 combined) check
ODEPA1 FIGURE
- Oficina de Estudios y Politicas Agrarias, Ministerio de Agricultura de Chile check
OECD Environment Statistics1 FIGURE
- municipal waste check
Other published sources1 FIGURE
- Past tense; UNESCO dates the Chinchorro from about 5450 BCE to 890 BCE and describes the culture through to its disappearance check
Our World in Data1 FIGURE
- CO2 country profile: Chile check
UN Protocol and Liaison Service1 FIGURE
- Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs, public list dated 20 October 2026 check
UNEP-WCMC Protected Planet1 FIGURE
- Chile (CHL) country profile, 2024 check
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP)1 FIGURE
- World Bank, People using safely managed drinking water, Chile, 2022 (97.6%) check
World Bank / FAO1 FIGURE
- Forest area (% of land area), Chile, 2023 (about 25%) check