Economic survey of the Caribbean 2024

This survey examines the economic performance of economies of the Caribbean in 2023 and the first few months of 2024 and comprises five chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of global, regional and subregional economic performance in the Caribbean. The second provides an analysis of the subregion’s fiscal performance and debt burden. The third looks at monetary policy and their impacts. The fourth is focused on the external sector, while the fifth concludes.…

Time for care in Latin America and the Caribbean: towards social and gender co-responsibility

This bulletin, prepared jointly by ECLAC and ILO, presents an analysis of the status of maternity, paternity and parental leave in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also outlines the challenge of advancing measures such as parental leave, long-term care leave and urgent leave, as well as the shortening of the working day and more flexible arrangements in terms of both hours and places of work. These regulatory tools should be made available to both men and women, since they are essential for the exercise of co-responsibility, the guarantee of the right to care and the achievement of gender e…

Responding to sargassum influxes through integrative and adaptive natural resource management approaches in Caribbean SIDS: an exploratory framework

Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face significant environmental, economic, and social challenges due to the impacts of the massive influxes of Sargassum seaweed (henceforth, Sargassum ). Conventional reactive interventions have demonstrated limited efficacy in addressing the recurrent proliferation of Sargassum blooms. These impacts are attributable to the immense scale and volumetric magnitude of these events, alongside their considerable spatiotemporal variabilities across the Caribbean sub-region. Furthermore, the absence of robust, harmonized management framework…

Preliminary overview of the economies of the Caribbean 2023–2024

chapters. The introduction examines the world economy and its prospects as well as growth and unemployment trends of Caribbean economies. The first chapter provides a comparative analysis across Caribbean economies of the main macroeconomic variables, namely GDP growth, monetary indicators, as well as fiscal and external accounts. The second chapter concludes, while the annex includes individual country briefs that give an overview of the economic situation for the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and a subregional assessment of the countries of the Ea…

United States-Latin America and the Caribbean Trade Developments 2025

In 2024, Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 19.2% of total United States trade, similar to the level recorded in 2023. The region’s share of total United States trade in goods, 23.2%, surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The region, driven by Mexico, remained a net exporter of goods to the United States: imports by that country from Latin America and the Caribbean rose by 7.4% to US$ 661 billion, while exports increased by 2.9% to US$ 517 billion, widening the United States goods trade deficit with the region to US$ 144 billion. Latin America and the Caribbean also accounted for 11.5% of …

United States-Latin America and the Caribbean Trade Developments: trade patterns and opportunities in the Caribbean

This special issue of United States-Latin America and the Caribbean Trade Developments provides an overview of trade relations between the United States and the Caribbean for the period 2021–2024. It presents an analysis of trends in goods and services trade; key sectors and partner economies; and an assessment of the degree of trade concentration. The findings show that although overall trade volumes recovered and expanded after the pandemic, the Caribbean’s share of total United States trade remained below 1%, highlighting the region’s limited but gradually increasing engagement with that co…

Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) 2025. Executive Summary

This 2025 edition of the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) provides quantitative and qualitative data on progress in artificial intelligence (AI) in 19 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. ILIA is fundamental for identifying achievements, gaps and opportunities for improvement in the AI ecosystems of countries across the region and an essential reference to address the main challenges of Latin America and the Caribbean in AI and digital transformation. Led by the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) of Chile and the Economic Commission for Latin Ame…

Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2025. Executive summary

Latin America and the Caribbean remains caught in a trap of low capacity for growth. ECLAC forecasts regional growth of 2.3% in 2026, slightly below the 2.4% recorded in 2025, marking four consecutive years of growth rates around 2.3%. This 2025 edition of the Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean shows that this performance comes amid global uncertainty and domestic constraints which limit investment growth, productivity and the capacity to generate formal employment. The economic outlook of the region is mixed. Although inflation continues to decline, facil…

Data embassies: an innovative approach to strengthening digital resilience in the Caribbean

In view of the accelerating pace of digital transformation, data have become the backbone of state functionality, economic development and disaster response. For the small island developing States of the Caribbean, this shift presents both opportunities and risks: while digital systems enable modernization and resilience, they remain acutely vulnerable to natural disasters, cyberattacks and connectivity failures. Against this backdrop, the concept of “data embassies” has emerged as an innovative solution to ensure government continuity and digital sovereignty. Data embassies provide another la…

Implementation Of The 2024 Programme Of Work Subprogramme 12: Subregional Activities In The Caribbean

Cold chain infrastructure in Paraguay

A cold chain system refers to the sequence of production and logistics processes that enable the production, transportation, storage, and distribution of food, pharmaceuticals, immunobiological, agricultural inputs, cosmetics, and other temperature-sensitive products under controlled temperatures. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a cold chain system includes the stages of pre-cooling, storage, transportation, distribution, retail, and domestic refrigeration (FAO, 2015). When applied to food production, the goal of a cold chain system is to keep pr…

Annotated Provisional agenda. Twenty-second meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee

Provisional agenda. Twenty-second meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee

Manual on the use of administrative data and its integration for statistical purposes related to children and adolescents

This manual provides guidance on the use of administrative data for statistical purposes related to children and adolescents, with a focus on data linkage and cross-sectoral integration. Prepared by the UNICEF Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean with leadership and technical guidance from the National Institute of Statistics of Chile and the National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay, in their capacity as co-chairs of the Working Group on Child Statistics of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the manual ai…

Housing and urban development as drivers of social inclusion and climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean: remarks delivered at the thirty-third General Assembly of the Forum of Ministers and High-level Authorities of Housing and Urban...

The Forum of Ministers and High-level Authorities of Housing and Urban Development of Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI) is the region’s main intergovernmental coordinating body in the areas of housing, human settlements, and sustainable urban development. Its General Assemblies serve as key platforms for political dialogue, the exchange of experiences, and the development of a shared vision among member countries, in collaboration with international organizations, development banks, academia, and civil society. The XXXIII General Assembly of MINURVI was held on December 12 and 13, 20…

Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2025: How to escape the trap of high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion. Executive summary

The Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 analyses the trap of high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion that is perpetuating the development crisis in the region. Inequality is a historical, structural and multidimensional problem that must be adequately measured in order to design comprehensive policies that address its multiple causes. Overcoming inequality requires a holistic approach to addressing inequalities caused by weaknesses in education systems and strengthening the role of education in intergenerational social mobility. It also requires linkin…

Towards substantive gender equality and the care society: acting with urgency to ensure women’s and girls’ right to a life free from violence

The member States and associate members of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), meeting at the sixteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean held in Mexico City from 12 to 15 August 2025, adopted the Tlatelolco Commitment (ECLAC, 2025b), which established a decade of action, 2025–2035, in Latin America and the Caribbean to accelerate achievement of substantive gender equality and the care society. Under this regional agreement, which is part of the Regional Gender Agenda of compacts adopted by ECLAC member States since …

Practical guide for production of harmonized statistics on forced displacement and migration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Summary

Manual on the use of administrative data and its integration for statistical purposes related to children and adolescents: summary

Annotated provisional agenda. Thirteenth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean