Shopping centers in Latin America - statistics & facts

The first shopping centers appeared in Latin America in the late 1960s in Mexico and Brazil. Since then, boosted by a growing middle class, the shopping mall industry in the region continued to grow. Contrary to the traditional U.S. model where shopping centers were anchored by major department stores like JC Penney or Macy’s, in many Latin American countries malls are commonly anchored by a variety of businesses such as grocery stores, fitness centers, healthcare facilities, and office space.
In the region, Mexico has the highest number of shopping malls and is the country with the most variety of shopping mall formats. However, in 2019, Chile had the highest shopping center density, beating Colombia with its five registered retail precincts per one million population.

Leading shopping centers

Contrary to possible expectations, Latin America’s largest mall is not located in the region’s major economies, but the isthmus land of Panama. Albrook Mall, in Panama City, had over 300 thousand square meters of gross leasable area (GLA), followed by Leste Aricanduva, in São Paulo Brazil, with nearly 250 thousand square meters of GLA. Switching to Colombia, Unicentro shopping mall, located in the country’s capital city, recorded the highest revenues. However, Plaza Imperial was Colombia’s top shopping center in terms of visitor number, reaching an annual footfall of nearly 43 million.

Key figures for shopping malls across Latin America

As of the third quarter of 2020, vacant floor space in Argentina represented roughly 47 percent of the total shopping center GLA. Revenues plunged amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic while the number of inactive stores nearly reached 2,400 figures. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate in strip centers in Greater Santiago Chile was not far from a potentially worrying six percent. Moving on to Peru, shopping center vacancy rate stood at 4.6 percent in 2019. Sales amounted to over 25 billion Peruvian soles, and the average number of monthly visitors surpassed 70 million people.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Apr 18, 2023

Key insights

Latin America's largest mall
Albrook Mall, Panama
Shopping centers per one million population Chile
14.1
Latin America's country with the most malls
Mexico
Get more insights

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Brazil

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Chile

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Colombia

7

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Mexico

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Peru

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Peru

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