Key Takeaways
- Uruguay’s ICT sector generated US$3.681 billion in 2024, equal to 4.5% of GDP, with 63% of revenue coming from international clients across 550 registered firms.
- US-bound sales fell from 82.4% to 77.6% of ICT export revenue in 2024, showing destination diversification alongside continued exposure to one corporate spending cycle.
- The Vidart Institute AI center and Google’s reported US$850 million facility anchor high-skill clusters that feed office, residential, and logistics demand in Montevideo.
Table of Contents
A US$3.68 Billion Digital Engine Reshapes Uruguay’s Export Base
Uruguay’s information and communications technology sector generated US$3.681 billion in total revenue during 2024, a 9% increase from the previous year and equivalent to 4.5% of national GDP.
The scale was detailed in an El Observador report this month, drawing on Uruguay XXI data and Ministry of Labor records. The sector’s relevance is not hypothetical: 550 ICT companies were registered in 2025, and 63% of total revenue came from clients outside Uruguay.
For international investors, that figure is a leading indicator of a small economy that has converted technical education, time-zone alignment, and institutional continuity into a durable services export base.
Inside the ICT Revenue Stack: Exports, Antel, and the 63% International Tilt
According to the El Observador report, the sector’s growth in 2024 was more moderate than in 2023, but still confirmed an expansive trajectory. The composition of revenue shows why the model is structurally outward-facing.
Excluding Antel’s data services, total sales reached US$3.185 billion, up 10% year over year. Domestic sales hit US$1.358 billion, a 12% rise, while sales made from Uruguay and through local companies’ foreign subsidiaries reached US$2.323 billion, up 7%.
Without Antel, domestic sales grew 17% to US$862 million. The gap between headline domestic sales and non-Antel domestic sales reflects the weight of the state telecom operator inside the local market.
International sales represented 63% of total sector revenue. An even broader indicator: 76% of companies reported sales to international clients. Service firms and vertical software companies were the most internationalized, with 84% and 71% of their sales going to foreign buyers, respectively.
Company structure remains concentrated in small and medium enterprises. The Ministry of Labor registered 550 ICT companies in 2025, and the distribution is:
- Small firms: 401 companies, representing 73%, with 5 to 20 employees.
- Medium firms: 127 companies, 23%, with fewer than 100 workers.
- Large firms: 22 companies, 4%, with more than 100 workers.
Uruguay was an early mover in Latin American technology education. The Institute of Computing was created in 1967, followed by the first university programs, which produced a specialized professional base earlier than most regional peers. The country is now the second-largest software exporter per capita in Latin America and the first in South America.
Export demand is heavily concentrated in the United States, which received 77.6% of foreign sales in 2024. That share declined from 82.4% in 2023. The United Kingdom, Chile, Spain, Canada, Germany, and Saudi Arabia followed, indicating a broadening destination set beyond the primary North American channel.
Team Haverkate’s Read: Why ICT Maturity Reinforces Uruguay’s Hard-Asset Case
At Team Haverkate, the relevant signal from this dataset is not simply that Uruguay has a technology sector. It is that the sector’s revenue profile is export-led, SME-dense, and increasingly linked to state-backed innovation infrastructure.
Uruguay XXI has positioned the sector’s growth around institutional stability, human capital quality, digital infrastructure, and time-zone proximity to the United States. Those attributes do not stay isolated in software; they migrate into demand for office, residential, logistics, and mixed-use assets when international technology firms localize teams and leadership in Montevideo.
To be clear, those framing points are government and investment-promotion positioning rather than independent market analysis. Still, they align with the observable pattern of a small economy retaining a specialized talent base capable of selling services internationally.
A separate Uruguay XXI release highlights the Vidart Institute, Uruguay’s National Artificial Intelligence Center, launched at the Innovation Park of LATU. Its four priorities are vision, language, AI and society, and security and explainability. The initiative is jointly led by Uruguay Innova, the National Secretariat for Science and Knowledge Valorization, and Agesic, with incubation support from ANII.
That institutional push matters for real assets because AI commercialization typically concentrates high-skill workers near research parks, universities, and data infrastructure. The plan is designed to connect university research, technology companies, and public agencies, shortening the path from prototype to deployed product.
Regional context adds scale. A Mordor Intelligence regional outlook puts the South America IT market at US$280.5 billion in 2025, with a projection to US$409.52 billion by 2030, a 7.86% compound annual growth rate. Google’s reported US$850 million facility in Uruguay is one of the more visible capital commitments anchoring the country’s Southern Cone footprint.
The moderation in US export share from 82.4% to 77.6% is also worth reading carefully. It suggests diversification, but it also leaves a significant portion of sector revenue tied to one country’s corporate spending cycle. That tension is precisely what investors should monitor when evaluating Uruguay’s service export durability.
From Software Exports to Durable Capital: Uruguay’s Next Decade
If the expansion captured in the Uruguay XXI data persists, the ICT sector will continue to function as a foreign-currency generator that supports household formation, professional rental demand, and corporate real estate decisions in Montevideo and beyond.
The deeper story is not only the 550-company count; it is the composition. A large majority of firms already serve international buyers, and most revenue is generated outside the domestic economy. That is a structural cushion for a market frequently evaluated as a second-home or retirement destination.
One structural risk that international buyers should address early is dual agency. In this arrangement a single real estate firm represents both the seller and the buyer in the same transaction, removing the independent advocacy that should protect the purchaser. That can lead to valuations aligned with seller expectations, less rigorous disclosure of hidden liabilities, and reduced negotiating leverage. Any investor considering a residential, agricultural, or commercial asset in Uruguay should insist on an advisory structure that avoids dual agency altogether.
For international buyers and investors, Uruguay’s ICT trajectory is a reminder that the country’s appeal is not limited to coastlines and farmland. Team Haverkate works with clients who are evaluating Uruguay from multiple angles, using local market intelligence to connect macroeconomic signals with the specific legal, financial, and property decisions that make an entry durable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is Uruguay’s ICT sector?
Uruguay’s information and communications technology sector generated US$3.681 billion in total revenue during 2024, a 9% increase from the previous year and equivalent to 4.5% of national GDP. In 2025, 550 ICT companies were registered, and 63% of total revenue came from clients outside Uruguay.
What share of Uruguay’s ICT revenue comes from exports?
International sales represented 63% of total sector revenue in 2024. A broader indicator is that 76% of companies reported sales to international clients. Service firms were the most internationalized, with 84% of their sales going to foreign buyers, followed by vertical software companies at 71%.
How many ICT companies are in Uruguay?
The Ministry of Labor registered 550 ICT companies in 2025. The distribution is 401 small firms, or 73%, with 5 to 20 employees; 127 medium firms, or 23%, with fewer than 100 workers; and 22 large firms, or 4%, with more than 100 workers.
Why is Uruguay’s ICT growth relevant to real estate investors?
Uruguay’s ICT sector is export-led, SME-dense, and increasingly linked to state-backed innovation infrastructure. As international technology firms localize teams and leadership in Montevideo, that can migrate into demand for office, residential, logistics, and mixed-use assets. The sector also acts as a foreign-currency generator supporting household formation, professional rental demand, and corporate real estate decisions.
What is Uruguay’s National Artificial Intelligence Center?
The Vidart Institute is Uruguay’s National Artificial Intelligence Center, launched at the Innovation Park of LATU. Its four priorities are vision, language, AI and society, and security and explainability. It is jointly led by Uruguay Innova, the National Secretariat for Science and Knowledge Valorization, and Agesic, with incubation support from ANII.
Which countries buy Uruguay’s ICT services?
The United States received 77.6% of foreign sales in 2024, down from 82.4% in 2023. The United Kingdom, Chile, Spain, Canada, Germany, and Saudi Arabia followed, indicating a broadening destination set beyond the primary North American channel.
What is dual agency and why should property buyers in Uruguay avoid it?
Dual agency occurs when a single real estate firm represents both the seller and the buyer in the same transaction. That removes the independent advocacy that should protect the purchaser and can lead to valuations aligned with seller expectations, less rigorous disclosure of hidden liabilities, and reduced negotiating leverage. International buyers should insist on an advisory structure that avoids dual agency altogether.
