From BWI

The Social Panorama of Latin America report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), indicates that extreme poverty had its worst rate for nine years in the region: 10.2 per cent. According to the report, this is the result of the weak performance of regional economies. The extreme poverty has been increasing since 2008.

Which means that 62 million Latin Americans live in households with per capita income lower than the minimum expenditure basket. Countries such as Brazil (19.9 per cent of poverty) and Venezuela – where there are no official figures –, points to an increase in poverty.

The poverty rate remains at 30.2 per cent of the population, which is equivalent to about 184 million people in the region. Chile, with 10.7 per cent of poverty according to an official measurement, is the country with the second lowest poverty in the region after Uruguay with a poverty rate of 2.7 per cent.

Costa Rica and Panama maintain poverty rates at 15.1 per centand 16.7 per cent, respectively. One of the conclusions of the ECLAC report is that labour income and social protection systems should be strengthened. 

For more on this story go to: https://www.bwint.org/cms/extreme-poverty-increases-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-1258