A. M. 
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) projects growth of just 2.2% in 2024 and 2.4% in 2025 for the economies of the region, reflecting a stagnation of GDP per capita in the last decade. According to the annual report Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2024, the growth dynamic continues to depend largely on private consumption, while investment continues to lag, aggravating the low capacity to grow.
The Executive Secretary of ECLAC, José Manuel Salazar, highlighted the need to strengthen productive capacity in the medium and long term through policies that increase productivity, promote quality employment and promote investment in productive capital. In this context, South America would grow by 2.6% in 2025, Central America by 2.9%, and the Caribbean (excluding Guyana) by 2.6%. However, challenges persist, such as slow employment growth (1.7% in 2024), high informality (46.7%) and significant gender gaps in labor markets.
In the fiscal area, public revenues face limitations due to weak economic growth and high financing costs, while public debt continues to exert pressure. ECLAC calls for strengthening public finances through progressive tax reforms, combating tax evasion and improving the efficiency of tax expenditure, in addition to promoting greater regional coordination to reform the international financial architecture.
The report underlines the importance of implementing new-generation productive development policies to get out of the low-growth trap. These should focus on strategic areas such as environmental sustainability, science and technology, digitalization and integration into global value chains, prioritizing sectors with high potential to boost growth and productivity.
Despite the economic slowdown, the region has shown progress in controlling inflation, which rose from 8.2% in 2022 to a projection of 3.4% in 2024. However, this level still exceeds pre-pandemic values. The report concludes that the adoption of innovative strategies, with an emphasis on sustainability and productive transformation, is key to promoting more robust and equitable economic development in the region.
