Effects of the quarantines and activity restrictions related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on air quality in Latin America's cities

Air pollution represents a major environmental health hazard. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is responsible for 300,000 deaths every year in the Americas, and 9 in every 10 people are breathing polluted air at this very moment. The air pollutants that are most harmful to human and environmental health are coarse particulate matter (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The concentrations of these pollutants in city air are then determined by the environmental conditions prevailing in each case. As multiple factors are …

Policy Brief: Planning for resilience: an integrated approach to tackle climate change in the Caribbean

The Caribbean subregion is exceptionally vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. Vulnerability is a key multidimensional concept at the heart of resilience building, relating to each country’s multiple spatial and socioeconomic risks and conditions. In fact, due to its geographical location and concentration of population and activities in low-lying coastal areas, the Caribbean is the second most hazard-prone region in the world...Moreover, impacts of extreme weather events on Caribbean small economies are of national proportions. For example, in the hurricane s…

Provisional agenda. Nineteenth meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (virtual meeting)

Compiling national accounts, balance-of-payments and foreign trade statistics in the framework of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health emergency

In the context of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is preparing a series of short publications with relevant policy recommendations for this period. This note includes several recommendations for the continued collection of information linked to national accounts, balance-of-payments and foreign trade statistics.…

Advancing the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean

Recommendations for eliminating selection bias in household surveys during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

In the context of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is preparing a series of short publications with relevant policy recommendations. A number of recommendations are made in this note to address bias problems that may arise in household surveys carried out during this exceptional period, as a complement to the suggestions made in a previous note on the sample designs for this type of survey.…

The Hummingbird Vol.7 No.5

Producing the consumer price index (CPI) and the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean

In the context of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is preparing a series of short publications with relevant policy recommendations for this period. This note makes several recommendations for the continued collection of price information from which the consumer price index (CPI) is calculated.…

Index numbers and their relationship with the economy

Index numbers are the basic tool for synthesizing economic statistics, to enable the formulae used to express and describe variables such as a country’s economic growth or an economy’s inflation rate, and also to make international comparisons. If different formulae are used, the results vary, and comparisons are not valid; so it is important to understand the formulae being used. Moreover, countries and international organizations need to promote common practices that harmonize and standardize measurements. Although index numbers are associated with macroeconomics, their theoretical foundatio…

Recommendations for the publication of official statistics from household surveys in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, ECLAC is preparing a series of short publications with relevant policy recommendations. A number of recommendations are made in this note on gathering labour market information through household surveys, paying particular attention to the sample designs required for this purpose.…

Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe 2019 = Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean 2019

En el Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe de la CEPAL se presenta un conjunto de estadísticas básicas que caracterizan la situación económica, sociodemográfica y ambiental de la región referidas a un período en particular. Esta información forma parte del conjunto de estadísticas disponibles en CEPALSTAT, el portal de bases de datos y publicaciones estadísticas de la CEPAL http://estadisticas.cepal.org/cepalstat/ [en línea]. La presente edición del Anuario contiene datos que se encontraban disponibles hasta mediados de diciembre de 2019. El Anuario consta de tres capítulos. El pr…

Generic Law on Official Statistics for Latin America

The Generic Law on Official Statistics for Latin America was adopted by the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean at its tenth meeting. Its purpose is to provide a regional model for Latin American countries that are interested in formulating or reformulating the legal basis for the functioning of their National Statistical Systems (NSS) and the production of official statistics. The Generic Law defines the rights and obligations of the bodies that compose the National Statistical System as well the principles and procedures to be…

Report of the Tenth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol.7 No.2

A review of Caribbean national statistical legislation in relation to the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

This study presents an assessment of national statistical legal frameworks across the Caribbean. It aims to ascertain the extent to which the UNFPOS are incorporated in the statistical laws of Member and Associate Member Countries of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC). Such an assessment provides the basis for making recommendations to the respective countries on policy actions needed to ensure the full incorporation of these principles in their statistics legislation thereby laying a solid foundation for the effective functioning of their NSS. Furthermore, an up-to-dat…

Biennial Programme of Regional and International Cooperation Activities 2020-2021, of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol.7 No.1

Policy Brief: Incorporating the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in Caribbean national statistical legislation

The United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (UNFPOS) are considered the basic framework that National Statistical Systems (NSS) must observe in order to produce high quality, independent statistics that support informed decision-making and public confidence in government. The UNFPOS were first adopted in 1994 by the United Nations Statistical Commission. These principles were subsequently endorsed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2013 and the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Statistical laws in the Caribbean have lagged in incorporating…

The Hummingbird Vol.6 No.12

Draft biennial programme of regional and international cooperation activities 2020-2021, of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean