MercadoLibre Builds Growth Through Access

In much of Latin America, when people talk about buying online or paying with a phone, they often mean MercadoLibre. What started as an online marketplace has become a broad digital ecosystem that moves goods, money, and data across some of the most underpenetrated markets in the world. It runs a leading ecommerce platform, a fast-growing logistics network, and a financial services arm that now reaches more than 100 million buyers and tens of millions of monthly financial services users.¹

The core of the company is still its marketplace. MercadoLibre connects a large base of small and medium-sized businesses to consumers across Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and other markets. More than 570,000 small and medium-sized enterprises sell on the platform, rather than opening physical stores in every town.²These sellers plug into a shared system for traffic, payments, logistics, and advertising. As many of these sellers grow, they may hire more workers, formalize their businesses, and invest in better systems. The platform is not just capturing existing demand. It helps lift parts of informal retail into more productive, formal channels.

The composition of that seller base is part of the story. According to the company’s 2024 impact data, MercadoLibre is now the main source of income for more than 1.8 million families in Latin America.³ Around 40 percent of these families earn more than half of their income through the platform, and roughly 73 percent of the small and medium-sized enterprises in the ecosystem are family-owned businesses, with about one in five led by a woman.⁴ Geographic reach matters as well. The platform serves entrepreneurs in large cities and in smaller towns that traditional retail and banking have often overlooked. By lowering the barriers to reach customers and use tools that once belonged only to large chains, MercadoLibre creates room for entrepreneurs who have been excluded by distance, income, or discrimination in credit markets.

Its financial arm, Mercado Pago, extends the same logic into money. In a region where bank branches are unevenly distributed and many people lack formal credit histories, the company’s digital wallet and payments network have become a first step into the financial system. By 2024, Mercado Pago had more than 61 million monthly active users and processed nearly $200 billion in total payment volume for the year.⁵ Users can receive income, pay bills, transfer money, save, and access credit in many markets, all inside a single app that links directly to how they already shop and earn.

For small businesses, credit often takes the form of working capital offered in loan sizes that are too small or operationally intensive for many incumbent banks. In the third quarter of 2025, MercadoLibre’s credit portfolio reached $11 billion, reflecting continued growth in its financial services ecosystem.⁶ Its underwriting relies on transaction data from marketplace sales and payment flows, not only on collateral or long credit files. For small and medium-sized enterprises in the region, roughly one in two received a first credit offer through Mercado Pago.⁷ For individuals, even modest lines of credit or yield-bearing balances can help provide a buffer against shocks and a path to build a financial record. Financial inclusion is not being delivered as an add-on. It is part of the core service that helps keep the ecosystem running.

Underneath both commerce and payments is a logistics network that supports faster and more reliable deliveries across much of the region. MercadoLibre has spent years strengthening its fulfillment ecosystem, cross-docking hubs, and last-mile operations to serve customers quickly in dense cities and more remote regions. In 2024, the company reported that 94 percent of items sold on its platform were shipped through its integrated logistics network, supported by air capacity and partner locations.⁸ We believe faster and more reliable delivery improves customer experience and raises the likelihood that users return to the platform. For sellers, it reduces the operational burden of shipping and handling, letting small teams offer delivery standards that once required a national footprint.

Over time, the environmental footprint of its logistics machine has come under closer scrutiny, both inside and outside the company. In response, MercadoLibre has begun to reshape how its operations use energy and move parcels. By 2024, the company had deployed more than 3,600 electric vehicles (EVs) in its fleet and delivered more than 70 million packages using electric mobility solutions.⁹ It also reported that 43.8 percent of the electricity used at its sites came from renewable sources, supported by targeted investment in generation and procurement.¹⁰ Cleaner vehicles can help reduce local air pollution and, over time, help lower emissions. Renewable energy contracts send demand signals that can support the growth of wind and solar generation in the region.

The marketplace itself is also being used to promote more sustainable choices. MercadoLibre has developed a dedicated section for products with positive environmental or social attributes and tracks the volume and value of those sales. In 2024, the company reported selling more than 17 million positive impact products, while separate research highlighted that the number of buyers looking for sustainable products on its platform grew 27 percent in the prior year, reaching more than 2.7 million people.¹¹ While this activity still represents a fraction of total commerce, it shows that the platform can do more than simply host transactions. It can help steer part of consumer demand toward goods that are less resource-intensive, or that support fairer working conditions in their supply chains.

Beyond its own operations and marketplace design, the company has begun to deploy capital into nature-based solutions through its Regenera América program. Launched in 2021, the initiative has now received about $24.2 million in committed investment from MercadoLibre and is focused on regeneration and conservation projects across key Latin American biomes.¹² By 2024, the program had initiated the restoration or conservation of more than 15,000 hectares of native forest, which is expected to remove roughly 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and avoid another three million tons over a 30-year period.¹³ These projects are designed not only to protect biodiversity and increase carbon storage in forests and soils, but also aim to support local communities through jobs and sustainable land use. In practical terms, this means MercadoLibre is trying to reduce the impact of its growth and also help repair some of the ecosystems that underpin climate stability in the region.

Taken together, these strands describe a development story as much as a commercial one. Bringing more small businesses and households into formal markets can support poverty reduction, better jobs, and narrower income gaps. Building out logistics and digital infrastructure can strengthen industry and innovation across the region. Expanding digital payments, savings tools, and accessible credit can deepen financial inclusion, which we believe is central to more resilient economies. Investments in EVs, renewable energy, sustainable products, and nature restoration can contribute to cleaner growth and healthier ecosystems on which communities depend.