Uruguay

The Republic of Uruguay is located in South America, between Brazil and Argentina, with a coast on the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided into 19 departments, with Montevideo as the capital and chief port. Spanish is the official language of Uruguay, and the currency is the Uruguayan peso (UYU).

Uruguay has existed as an independent republic since 18 July 1830, when its first Constitution was approved. Since then, it has taken advantage of its natural harbour to become an important commercial centre.

After five years of stagnation, the pandemic caused a drop in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020 (-6.1%), which had fully recovered in 2021 (when the economic activity grew 4.4%). This recovery in GDP has been driven by three pivots: (i) the positive external shock of commodities, (ii) the construction of a new pulp mill and (iii) an incipient growth in private consumption (especially in services).

The health management of the pandemic allowed mobility to be reduced as little as possible and this avoided severe lockdowns, assisting workers who lost their jobs. For this, Uruguay has a key tool such as unemployment insurance, which allows companies to reduce their payroll and even so workers have an income for several months. At the worst moment of the pandemic, unemployment insurance grew from 46,000 people in February 2020 to 186,000 in April and May 2020. In April 2022, unemployment insurance reached 44,000.

Uruguay's strengths in this context are a financial system less exposed to exchange rate risk, less dollarization of public debt (approximately 10%) and the investment grade. Towards the end of 2021, Uruguay has not only maintained its investment grade but has also improved the debt outlook from one of the main risk rating agencies. This is explained by good macroeconomic management and, in particular, by the reduction of the structural fiscal deficit (without considering the short-term expenses to face the pandemic).

PwC Uruguay currently has offices located in Montevideo city, in the Free Zones of World Trade Center and Zonamerica, as well as in Punta del Este, with over 400 professionals trained in audit, accounting, tax, economics, information technology, human resources, and operational management. This places PwC as one of the most developed professional services organizations in Uruguay.