In 2020, the covid-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of informal workers, who often lack social protection or employment benefits. According to United Nationsworkers in the informal economy are twice as likely to fall into the poverty than those formalized.
The informal labor force represents more than half of the total number of people employed in Latin America, according to what was reported by the International Labor Organization. With close to eight out of ten workers employed in the informal sector in 2020, Bolivia has the highest rate of informality in the region and one of the highest worldwide.
Also in the Andean zone, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia have more than 60% of their population employed in informal salaried jobs. Meanwhile, in Mexico and Brazil, the largest Latin American economies, this percentage rises to 57% and 47%, respectively.
In the south of the continent, Chile and Uruguay show, on the contrary, more formal than informal employment, both with an informality rate below 30%.
