The region of Latin America and the Caribbean would add 86 million people in extreme poverty, which would imply an increase of five million more when compared to the 81 million in 2020, although in that same period there would be a reduction in the number of poor, falling from 204 million to 201 million people.
These are the projections made by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), contained in its report Social Panorama of Latin America, presented this Thursday by Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the organization.
Although the document does not detail the number of people who fell poverty extreme by country in the region last year and those who came out of the poverty, points out that in a context of economic recovery in 2021 “it is to be expected that both the poverty extreme as the poverty decrease and that part of the setback observed in 2020 be recovered”.
It adds that based on the information available on the expected growth of the gross domestic product (GDP), the behavior of the labor market and the income transfer programs implemented in the context of the pandemic, it is expected that the poverty stands at 32.1%, which represents a reduction compared to 2020, but also an increase compared to the levels observed before COVID-19.
“In turn, the poverty The extreme rate would stand at 13.8%, as a result of a reduction in emergency income transfers in some countries, which would not be offset by the expected increase in income from employment”, advances the report of the ECLAC.
The Dominican Republic, together with Bolivia and Mexico, are the countries in the region with the lowest increase in both problems (poverty extreme and poverty) was recorded in 2020, less than two percentage points.
The organization maintains that in a longer-term context, the 2020 figures imply a significant setback for several countries in the region.
In Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico it indicates that the rates of poverty of 2020 are close to or greater than those observed 12 years ago, in 2008. He adds that, if a closer comparison point is considered, such as 2014, Peru and Uruguay join the group of countries with setbacks in terms of poverty extreme.
On the contrary, the rates of poverty of Bolivia, El Salvador, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic in 2020 are lower than those observed in both 2008 and 2014”, points out the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
