ECONOMY

 The economy of Peru is an emerging, social market economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade and an upper middle income economy as classified by the World Bank.^[23] Peru has the forty-seventh largest economy in the world by total GDP^[24] and currently experiences a high human development index.^[25] The country was one of the world's fastest-growing economies in 2012, with a GDP growth rate of 6.3%.^[26] The economy was expected to increase 9.3% in 2021, in a rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.^[27] Peru has signed a number of free trade agreements with its main trade partners. China became the nation's largest trading partner following the China–Peru Free Trade Agreement signed on 28 April 2009.^[28] Additional free trade agreements have been signed with the United States in 2006,^[15][29]Japan in 2011^[30] and the European Union in 2012.^[31]Trade and industry are centralized in Lima while agricultural exports have led to regional development within the nation.