MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean grew by approximately 3.7% in 2022, almost half the figure reached in the previous year (6.75%), which reflects “an exhaustion” of the rebound effect of the recovery of 2021 and a strong impact of a restrictive monetary policy, which is bringing a deterioration in consumption and investment.
This is clear from the ‘Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean 2022’, published this Wednesday by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal) and which also includes data on inflation, which escalated in the region to 15.4% in the whole of 2022, a figure three points higher than that registered in 2021 (12.4%).
The high inflationary pressure in Latin America, as explained by ECLAC, is mainly due to food prices, which play an “important” role in the evolution of the general price index, reaching a variation of 13.2% in the year (in 2021 the increase was 8.3%).
In addition, the behavior of regional inflation is also correlated with the evolution of the prices of basic products, which between January and October 2022 have increased by 16.6% compared to the previous year. By groups, the growth of 45.9% in the prices of energy products, 36.8% in fertilizers and 19.5% for food and beverages stands out.
HIGH COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE: 1,680 MILLION EUROS
Despite being one of the regions with the least contribution to climate change, Latin America is in a very vulnerable situation in the face of this global problem. In the year 2022 alone, 74 adverse weather events have taken place that have directly affected more than seven million people.
In figures, ECLAC calculates that all damages and economic losses directly or indirectly related to disasters for the year 2022 in the region have had a cost of 1,789 million dollars (1,680 million euros).
