Economic Indicators and Statistics Database (BADECON): selected manufacturing industry indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean

Industrial policy today remains as important as ever for Latin America and the Caribbean. Moving towards development requires a rational, inclusive and sustainable industrial policy guided by the intensive use of information, enabling the definition and dissemination of indicators that are useful for decision-making. The Statistics Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with the support of national statistical offices, has been building a database of economic surveys to compile annual basic statistics for calculating statistical indicators on the manuf…

Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2023

This document of Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2023 (ECLAC), presents the challenge of attracting and retaining FDI that contributes to sustainable and inclusive development in the region remains as relevant as ever, and countries must make efforts to enact the right kind of policies if they are to have FDI that supports their development process and allows for the realization of the potential of FDI to build capacities, create quality jobs, transfer technology and enhance the diversification and sophistication of the production mix. One of the main reasons given…

Capital flows to Latin America and the Caribbean: first half of 2023

Latin American and Caribbean bond activity in international markets recovered strongly towards the end of the first half of 2023, with a total of US$ 50 billion placed in the period. This figure was 9% higher than in the year-earlier period and 158% higher than in the second half of 2022. Decelerating inflation and currency appreciation supported the upturn in bond activity, as did the pause in increases in the benchmark interest rate decided by the United States Federal Reserve at its meeting on 13 and 14 June following 10 consecutive hikes. There was a flurry of new bond issuances in the las…

Provisional agenda. Fifth session of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 8

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

Provisional agenda. Twelfth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Buenos Aires Commitment (Fifteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean)

The Buenos Aires Commitment was adopted at the fifteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the Government of Argentina and held in Buenos Aires from 7 to 11 November 2022. The Buenos Aires Commitment charts a path towards a care society, with agreements in new areas for transformative recovery with gender equalit…

Guaranteed minimum income, universal transfers for children and older adults, and other income protection options

Income support and social protection in Latin America and the Caribbean: debates on policy options

In the area of social protection systems, the Latin American and Caribbean region is characterized by structural gaps in coverage and sufficiency, owed especially to widespread labour informality. To offset these deficits, the region has accumulated vast experience in social protection through the introduction of cash and in-kind transfers as non-contributory social protection. In addition, in light of the profound impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and an unfavourable economic and labour context, the discussion on mechanisms for ensuring adequate income levels in the regio…

Educational expansion and class mobility trends in Brazil

This paper examines trends in intergenerational class mobility for six birth cohorts of individuals born between 1921 and 1981, observed in surveys carried out in 1973, 1982, 1988, 1996 and 2014. Besides analysing the variation of trends on the basis of three temporal dimensions —age, birth cohort and survey year— the paper determines the effects of educational attainment on intergenerational mobility. The analysis reveals a historical trend of increasing social mobility across birth cohorts in Brazil. The effects of educational attainment are determined by three mechanisms: educational expans…

Natural Resources Outlook in Latin America and the Caribbean. Executive summary

This document is a summary of the Natural Resources Outlook in Latin America and the Caribbean, a forthcoming publication which aims to raise awareness and promote debate on the role of renewable and non-renewable natural resources in the transition to a more sustainable development model. Natural resources play an important role in the economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean. The region is home to almost 20% of the world’s oil reserves, at least 25% of its reserves of certain strategic metals and more than 30% of its primary forests. Natural-resource-based economic activities …

Investment and cooperation opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union

Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union have a rich history of cooperation and share common values and interests such that cooperation is the natural path for responding to the major challenges facing the countries of the region and the international system. In this document, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) analyses areas for investment and cooperation in strategic sectors, offers assessments, identifies opportunities and proposes work and policy agendas. The region faces significant challenges in the areas analysed, which include energy trans…

Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Towards the creation of better jobs in the post-pandemic era

In 2022, the main labour indicators for the region —participation rate, unemployment rate, employment rate and number of employed— recovered and returned to 2019 levels. Employment policies that, since 2020, were aimed at job creation in general shifted in 2021 to target the segments hardest-hit by the pandemic, further boosting the recovery in employment in the economy as a whole and among young people and women in particular. A return to pre-pandemic levels is not enough. High levels of informal employment and wide gender gaps persist, and wages and productivity have returned to pre-pandemic…

Lithium extraction and industrialization: opportunities and challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean

Lithium is one of the key elements in the energy transition. Until now it has been an essential input in the production of lithium-ion batteries —a key technology for the decarbonization of transport and the storage of energy generated from renewable sources. Lithium is also considered a strategic resource by countries that have abundant lithium deposits. In Latin America, Argentina, Chile and the Plurinational State of Bolivia stand out for their deposits, forming the “lithium triangle”, while Brazil, Mexico and Peru, with smaller deposits, also have the potential to produce significant amoun…

Strengthening road traffic enforcement in the State of Pará, Brazil: a successful road safety project

In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly issued resolution 72/271 “Improving global road safety”, which established the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF), with a view to joining forces and consolidating action to achieve safe mobility targets. The fund aims to finance high-impact projects to increase road safety, with the ultimate goal of mitigating and, ideally, eliminating road traffic injuries. To achieve its objective, the Fund conducts a meticulous selection process that prioritizes broad participation by actors including government, civil society and the private sector, always …

Report of the Twenty-ninth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Council for Planning of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES)

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 7

Advancing geospatial information management for disaster risk management in the Caribbean

The Caribbean is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, extreme weather events and other natural hazards. The subregion is also exposed to anthropogenic hazards, including petroleum and other industrial chemical spills, fires, and soil, air and water pollution. These hazards can result in loss of life and other health impacts, damage to infrastructure, social and economic disruptions and ecological degradation. To significantly reduce the negative effects of these hazards, it is important that key stakeholders, including national disaster management agencies, development partners,…

Pathways to sustainable planning for a just energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean: An analysis of best practices in selected countries

This study, prepared within the framework of cooperation between the GET.transform programme and ECLAC for the Regional Technical Forum of Energy Planners, sets forth relevant findings identified following an extensive process of interviews with representatives of planning institutions from selected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The study first identified key elements of recurrent practices in energy planning, then analysed strengths and opportunities for improvement, which were grouped into five pillars to promote a just energy transition: fostering competitive markets to supp…