Country profile · South America
Peru
Peru has about 34 million people (2025 census). Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, took office on July 28, 2026, the ninth president in ten years. Peru is the world's third-largest copper miner. China buys more than a third of its exports, much of it through a Chinese-run port at Chancay.
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Who runs Peru?
President Keiko Fujimori was born in Lima in 1975. She is the eldest daughter of Alberto Fujimori, who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000. From 1994, aged 19, she acted as first lady. She studied at Boston University and Columbia and founded the Fuerza Popular party. She lost presidential runoffs in 2011, 2016 and 2021. On June 7, 2026 she beat the leftist Roberto Sánchez by 50.13% to 49.87%, a margin of 49,641 votes. Sánchez claimed fraud without evidence. Fujimori took office on July 28 and promised an iron fist on crime. Murders rose from 1,431 in 2023 to 2,213 in 2025, and gangs extort and kill bus drivers in Lima. Since 2026 Peru's Congress has two chambers again, a Senate of 60 and a Chamber of Deputies of 130. Her party and its ally Renovación Popular hold 56 deputies, 10 short of a majority (chart). Her approval fell from 57% in August to 40% in October (Ipsos).
- Fuerza Popular and its ally Renovación Popular 56
- Juntos por el Perú 32
- Other parties 42
Photo (2026): Ministry of Production of Peru, Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped)
Who are Peru's allies and rivals?
The United States and China are Peru's two biggest partners, and President Keiko Fujimori says Peru will not take sides between them. The United States named Peru a major non-NATO ally in January 2026, and US troops train in Peru each year with the approval of Congress. In September 2026 Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Lima, and Peru joined Trump's "Shield of the Americas" coalition against crime. China has been Peru's largest trading partner since 2014. Chinese companies own Lima's two electricity distributors and the large copper mines of Las Bambas and Toromocho. In November 2024 Xi Jinping opened the Chinese-run port of Chancay, and US officials have warned that Peru may be unable to oversee it. Peru broke off relations with Mexico in November 2025, after Mexico gave asylum to a former prime minister, and restored them in August 2026. Colombia rejects Peru's claim to Santa Rosa, an island in the Amazon River.
Allies and partners
United StatesMajor non-NATO ally since January 2026
ChinaLargest trading partner; runs the port of Chancay
EcuadorBorder wars in 1941 and 1995; peace since 1998
BoliviaUses Peru's port of Ilo; ties revived in 2026
- Chancay Port 60% owned by China's Cosco, opened November 2024. Ships reach Shanghai in about 23 days.
- Santa Rosa Island in the Amazon facing Colombia's Leticia. Peru made it a district in 2025, and Colombia objects.
- Tacna Border with Chile, where Peru has declared emergencies since November 2025 as migrants arrive.
- Pataz Gold mining area where gunmen killed 13 mine workers in May 2025.
- Peru
- Partner
- Tensions
Who does Peru trade with?
Peru exported a record $93.1 billion of goods in 2025 and imported $58.5 billion (Central Reserve Bank). China bought about 35% of its exports and the United States about 11%. The chart shows 2024, the latest year in UN data. Mining made up about two-thirds of exports: copper earned $28.1 billion and gold $23.2 billion. Peru is also the world's largest exporter of blueberries, and in a normal year its anchovy fleet makes about a fifth of the world's fishmeal. In 2026 a strong El Niño warmed the sea, and the anchovy season collapsed. Since July 24, 2026 most Peruvian goods have paid a 12.5% tariff in the United States. Free trade agreements with the United States (2009) and China (upgraded in 2024) cover most of Peru's trade. About 70% of Peruvian workers have informal jobs, and 25.7% of people lived in poverty in 2025 (INEI). Julio Velarde has run the central bank since 2006 and began a fifth term in September 2026.
Goods, 2024, as reported by Peru. UN Comtrade.
Why has Peru had so many presidents?
Peru has had nine presidents since July 2016. Under Article 113 of the constitution, Congress can remove a president for "permanent moral incapacity", a vague phrase. Until 2026 that took 87 of the 130 votes in a single-chamber Congress. Parties are small and split often, so presidents rarely have a majority. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned in 2018 before a removal vote. Congress removed Martín Vizcarra in 2020, and street protests forced out his successor, Manuel Merino, after five days. Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve Congress on December 7, 2022 and was arrested the same day. In November 2025 he was sentenced to 11 years and 5 months for conspiracy to commit rebellion. His vice president, Dina Boluarte, was removed in October 2025. Her successor, José Jerí, lasted four months before Congress censured him over undisclosed meetings with Chinese businessmen. Four former presidents have been sentenced to prison since 2024. Removal now needs two-thirds of both chambers.
How much copper does Peru mine?
Peru mined about 2.7 million tonnes of copper in 2025, 11.7% of the world's output (US Geological Survey). Only Chile and the DR Congo mined more (chart). The largest mines are Toquepala and Cuajone, Las Bambas, Cerro Verde and Antamina. Peru is also the second-largest producer of silver and of zinc. Gold is a growing problem. Thousands of informal miners dig without full permits, and criminal gangs control some areas. In May 2025 gunmen killed 13 workers at a gold mine in Pataz. The Peruvian Institute of Economics estimates that illegal gold exports were worth $11.5 billion in 2025. In the first half of 2026 they overtook legal gold exports for the first time. A government register lets about 30,000 informal miners keep working until December 31, 2026.
Share of world copper mine output, 2025
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Zambia
US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2026