Uruguay ranks third in Latin America for international air passengers per capita

Uruguay ranked third in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025 for international air passengers per inhabitant, recording 0.67, behind the Dominican Republic (1.71) and Costa Rica (1.62). In terms of absolute volume, Uruguay's airports handled approximately 2.3 million international passengers in 2025. When considering total passengers per inhabitant, Uruguay recorded 0.68, which was below most large regional markets but above Paraguay, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
The growth in the region is moderate; passenger traffic in Latin America and the Caribbean rose 1.9% in the first half of 2026, with cargo rising by 3.6%. The ACI-LAC projects long-term regional growth of 3.1% annually, estimating a rise from approximately 809 million passengers this year to 1.5 billion by 2045, requiring an estimated US$178 billion in investment over thirty years.
The position of Uruguay is attributed by the ACI-LAC director general to the development of Carrasco International Airport and its integration with logistics activity, including the Latin America Cargo City logistics center which serves pharmaceutical industries across Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, alongside integration with the port of Montevideo.

* Uruguay ranked third in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025 for international air passengers per inhabitant (0.67).
* The Dominican Republic ranked first with 1.71 international passengers per inhabitant, and Costa Rica ranked second with 1.62.
* The United States recorded 0.77 international passengers per inhabitant.
* Argentina recorded 0.34 international passengers per inhabitant.
* Uruguay's airports handled approximately 2.3 million international passengers in 2025.
* Total passengers per inhabitant for Uruguay was 0.68.
* Regional passenger traffic rose 1.9% and cargo increased by 3.6% in the first half of 2026.
* ACI-LAC projects long-term growth of 3.1% annually, projecting regional passengers to reach 1.5 billion by 2045.
* Thirteen airports in the region remain below their 2019 passenger traffic levels.
* One hundred and sixty-one airports have not recovered their cargo levels post-pandemic.

The narrative positions Uruguay as a regional outlier, suggesting that its standing is contingent upon specific infrastructural developments, such as the integration of Carrasco Airport and the logistics hub, which serves pharmaceutical trade and port connectivity. This frames regional performance not just by absolute volume but by specialized logistical function. The contrast between Uruguay’s relatively low passenger-per-inhabitant rate (0.67) and the high rates in larger economies like the Dominican Republic suggests that metrics of international mobility are highly sensitive to national economic structures, population density, and connectivity infrastructure, rather than solely reflecting overall market size.
The projected long-term growth figures (3.1% annual increase toward 1.5 billion passengers by 2045) alongside the uneven post-pandemic recovery signal a dynamic environment where growth potential is large but realization is fragmented. The focus on specific logistics corridors—like the pharmaceutical chain through Carrasco—suggests that future regional influence will be determined less by broad travel trends and more by the successful optimization of specialized trade nodes. This implies that true sovereignty in this context rests not in catching up to overall numbers, but in leveraging unique, integrated advantages within existing logistical frameworks.
What factors, beyond airport development, determine the ability for smaller economies to convert infrastructural assets into proportionally higher per-capita mobility, and how can regional planning shift focus from aggregate growth projections to maximizing localized, specialized supply chain efficiency?