Lima Regains Regional Competitiveness Lead as Apurímac and Pasco Record Decade’s Strongest Advancement on Mining Activity

The Instituto Peruano de Economía released its INCORE 2026 index measuring relative positioning across Peru’s 25 regions through 42 indicators grouped into six pillars: economic environment, labor, infrastructure, health, education, and institutions. Lima Metropolitana and Callao scored 7.5 points on the 0-10 scale, leading nine of 42 individual indicators and dominating infrastructure and education pillars. Moquegua placed second at 7.5 points, followed by Arequipa at 7.0, Tacna at 6.9, and Ica at 6.6. The bottom positions remained occupied by Loreto at 3.6, Ucayali at 4.1, and Huánuco at 4.4, with Loreto holding last place since 2016.

Apurímac advanced from 19th to 12th position between 2016 and 2026, attributed primarily to economic impact from the Las Bambas mine alongside improvements in health and education. The region’s economy expanded 12.3 percent annually over the decade versus the 2.3 percent national average, while poverty declined from 38 percent to 21 percent. Regional Governor Percy Godoy credited political stability and investment promotion since 2022, noting approximately 2.5 billion soles in current public works generating 20,000 jobs. Apurímac implemented a transparency commission in 2017 integrating state representatives, mining companies, and civil society to oversee resource allocation from mining revenues.

Pasco climbed from 22nd to 14th position over 10 years, driven by mining resurgence including mineral waste reprocessing projects. The most competitive regions correlate with higher per capita GDP and lower poverty rates, demonstrating that enhanced regional conditions attract private investment and support growth. Madre de Dios, Ayacucho, and Puno recorded the largest year-over-year advances. Madre de Dios moved from 15th to 13th with infrastructure, economic environment, and institutional improvements, ranking second in chlorinated water access at 72.0 percent. Tumbes experienced the sharpest decline, falling from 13th to 16th due to reduced judicial resolution rates and consecutive years of lowest regional government approval at 4.8 percent.

Lima’s leadership position masks persistent challenges including rising crime victimization affecting one-quarter of residents aged 15 and above, plus approximately 160,000 additional young people neither studying nor working compared to pre-pandemic levels. Loreto maintains critical deficiencies with only six percent of fourth-grade students achieving satisfactory mathematics levels and 12 percent of educational facilities having water access, while one in five children suffers chronic malnutrition and over 45 percent of children aged 6-35 months have anemia.