We give below, taken from the publications of M. Latzina the statistics of foreign trade since 1861, which is the first year included in the official statistics.
The foreign trade of the Argentine has passed through two distinct phases; from 1861 to 1890 the imports were usually larger than the exports; while since 1891 the exports, except in 1893, have been considerably the larger.
It is curious to note that this reversal took place after the year 1890; that is, after the financial crisis which so violently shook the country, and deprived it of that external credit which had hitherto balanced the insufficiency of exportations. In 1891 the imports fell to £13,441,400, from £28,448,000, or a fall of more than 50 per cent. from one year to the next. Thenceforward the imports progressively increased to £37,400,000 in 1904, varying by a few millions each year, while the exports reached their present high state of development through the progress achieved by agriculture.
| Year. | Population. | Imports. | Exports. | Commercial Balance. | |||
| 1861 | 1,375,481 | £4,488,224 | £2,864,518 | - | £1,623,706 | ||
| 1862 | 1,424,740 | 4,627,742 | 3,830,268 | - | 797,474 | ||
| 1863 | 1,477,042 | 5,473,939 | 4,317,689 | - | 1,156,250 | ||
| 1864 | 1,530,954 | 4,628,648 | 4,473,462 | - | 155,186 | ||
| 1865 | 1,387,101 | 6,056,861 | 5,225,288 | - | 831,573 | ||
| 1866 | 1,645,436 | 7,480,097 | 5,348,154 | - | 2,131,943 | ||
| 1867 | 1,706,159 | 7,758,439 | 6,639,223 | - | 1,119,216 | ||
| 1868 | 1,769,379 | 8,480,508 | 5,941,942 | - | 2,538,566 | ||
| 1869 | 1,836,490 | 8,239,140 | 6,489,637 | - | 1,749,303 | ||
| 1870 | 1,882,615 | 9,824,922 | 6,044,617 | - | 3,780,305 | ||
| 1871 | 1,936,569 | 9,135,821 | 5,399,360 | - | 3,736,461 | ||
| 1872 | 1,989,880 | 12,317,156 | 9,453,593 | - | 2,863,563 | ||
| 1873 | 2,045,028 | 14,686,807 | 9,479,658 | - | 5,207,149 | ||
| 1874 | 2,102,284 | 11,565,309 | 8,908,307 | - | 2,657,002 | ||
| 1875 | 2,161,639 | 11,524,896 | 10,401,822 | - | 1,123,073 | ||
| 1876 | 2,223,189 | 7,214,004 | 9,618,142 | + | 2,404,138 | ||
| 1877 | 2,287,005 | 8,088,684 | 8,953,988 | + | 865,304 | ||
| 1878 | 2,353,194 | 8,751,825 | 7,504,754 | - | 1,247,071 | ||
| 1879 | 2,421,827 | 9,272,718 | 9,871,511 | + | 598,793 | ||
| 1880 | 2,492,866 | 9,107,176 | 11,676,157 | + | 2,564,981 | ||
| 1881 | 2,565,040 | 11,141,185 | 11,587,654 | + | 446,469 | ||
| 1882 | 2,639,573 | 12,249,209 | 12,077,788 | - | 171,421 | ||
| 1883 | 2,716,836 | 16,047,165 | 12,641,595 | - | 4,045,570 | ||
| 1884 | 2,797,042 | 18,811,229 | 13,605,967 | - | 5,205,261 | ||
| 1885 | 2,880,111 | 18,444,394 | 16,775,820 | - | 1,668,574 | ||
| 1886 | 2,966,260 | 19,081,749 | 13,966,968 | - | 5,114,781 | ||
| 1887 | 3,056,835 | 23,470,425 | 16,884,164 | - | 6,586,061 | ||
| 1888 | 3,158,914 | 25,682,422 | 20,022,380 | - | 5,660,041 | ||
| 1889 | 3,265,577 | 32,913,976 | 18,029,071 | - | 14,884,960 | ||
| 1890 | 3,377,780 | 28,448,162 | 20,163,798 | - | 8,284,364 | ||
| 1891 | 3,490,417 | 13,441,556 | 20,643,800 | + | 7,202,244 | ||
| 1892 | 3,607,103 | 18,296,232 | 22,674,067 | + | 4,377,836 | ||
| 1893 | 3,729,105 | 19,244,725 | 18,818,032 | - | 426,694 | ||
| 1894 | 3,856,728 | 18,557,725 | 20,337,597 | + | 1,779,872 | ||
| 1895 | 3,984,911 | 19,019,287 | 24,013,560 | + | 4,994,270 | ||
| 1896 | 4,084,183 | 22,432,718 | 23,376,403 | + | 927,685 | ||
| 1897 | 4,186,267 | 19,657,789 | 20,233,859 | + | 576,070 | ||
| 1898 | 4,291,575 | 21,485,780 | 26,765,891 | + | 5,280,111 | ||
| 1899 | 4,400,226 | 23,370,134 | 36,983,506 | + | 13,611,152 | ||
| 1900 | 4,512,342 | 22,697,014 | 30,920,082 | + | 8,223,068 | ||
| 1901 | 4,625,150 | 22,791,949 | 33,543,220 | + | 10,751,271 | ||
| 1902 | 4,741,780 | 20,607,851 | 35,897,345 | + | 15,289,494 | ||
| 1903 | 4,860,324 | 26,241,320 | 44,196,905 | + | 17,955,585 | ||
| 1904 | 4,981,832 | 37,461,194 | 52,831,505 | + | 15,370,311 | ||
| 1905 | 5,214,974 | 41,030,884 | 64,568,768 | + | 23,537,884 | ||
| 1906 | 5,377,639 | 53,994,104 | 58,450,766 | + | 4,456,662 | ||
| 1907 | 5,546,106 | 57,172,136 | 59,240,874 | + | 2,068,738 | ||
| 1908 | 5,712,489 | 54,594,547 | 73,201,068 | + | 18,706,521 | ||
| ————— | ————— | ————— | |||||
| Totals | £887,142,003 | £964,278,951 | + | £77,136,940 | |||
| ========== | ========== | ======== | |||||
For the explanation of these data, we must remember that during the last twelve years the population has increased only by about one million inhabitants, and that in consequence the power of consumption of the Argentine could only become modified to a certain extent. If we except certain periods of exceptional importations, referring, for instance, to the entry in bulk of large amounts of raw material for the construction of new railways, we see that the imports, as compared to the bulk of the population, represent from £5, 5s. to £7, 18s. 7d. per head, while the same figure for exports is £7, 10s. 7d. to £10, 12s. 0d., according to the condition of agriculture.
If we now examine the recent results of foreign trade, we find the situation summed up by the following figures for 1908, as compared with 1907, 1906, and 1905:—
| 1908 | 1907 | 1906 | 1905 | |
| Exports | £73,201,068 | £59,240,874 | £58,450,766 | £64,568,768 |
| Imports | 54,594,547 | 57,172,136 | 53,994,104 | 41,030,884 |
| ————— | ————— | ————— | ————— | |
| Excess of Exports | £18,606,521 | £2,068,738 | £4,456,662 | £23,537,884 |
| ======== | ======== | ======== | ======== |
The commercial balance in 1908 was thus £18,606,521 in favour of the exports, as against £2,068,738 in 1907, £4,456,662 in 1906, which latter sum was £19,081,222 less than in 1905.