Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean

• Over the last decade, economic growth in Latin American countries has been weak, averaging 0.9% between 2015 and 2024, which is lower than the 2.0% recorded in the “lost decade” of the 1980s. This was revealed in the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) annual report, titled 'Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2024: Low Growth Trap, Climate Change, and Employment Trends’\.
• The report noted that the region must boost growth to meet the environmental, social and labour challenges it currently faces. This will require the harmonization of macroeconomic and productive development policies that stimulate investment and productivity and facilitate inclusive and sustainable growth.
• Economic growth in the region’s economies remains weak. In the first quarter of 2024, the region’s economy grew by 1.5% relative to the previous year. This was the third consecutive quarter in which the GDP of the Latin American economies increased by less than 2.0% and the sixth quarter in which growth was lower than the 4.5% recorded in the third quarter of 2022.
• For 2024, when including Guyana, the ECLAC projects that the Caribbean region will grow by 8.4% this year. Excluding Guyana ECLAC forecasts 2.6% growth for the Caribbean region. Guyana alone is forecast to experience a remarkable 29.2% growth. Furthermore, low growth is also forecasted for all other subregions, including 1.5% in South America and 2.2% in Central America and Mexico.
• Other country-specific growth forecasts for 2024 include the Dominican Republic (5.2%), Costa Rica (4.0%), Panama (2.7%), Bahamas (2.3%), Barbaods (3.7%), Jamaica (1.8%), and Trinidad and Tobago (2.4%).
• Overall, growth across the Latin American and Caribbean region is expected to average 1.8% in 2024, below 2.2% and 4.0% in 2023 and 2022, respectively. On the contrary, a higher growth rate of 2.3% is expected for the region as a whole in 2025, where the performance of South America is set to be the main driver.
• That said, the region’s economic growth remains conditioned by an uncertain external scenario, given high inflation and interest rates that remain elevated worldwide, which tends to delay the normalization of monetary policy easing in the main advanced countries, depressing external demand and keeping financial conditions tight.

(Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean)