ECLAC: Poverty and indigence escalate in Venezuela

According to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), based on information compiled until 2011, seven out of 12 countries in Latin America reported a drop in poverty. Conversely, Venezuela, among other countries, registered an escalation of poverty.

The downward trend was reported in Paraguay (-5.2 points), Ecuador (-3.7 points) Peru (-3.5 points), Colombia (-3.1 points), Argentina (-2.9 points), Brazil (-2.0 points in 2009-2011) and Uruguay (-1.9 points), ECLAC's Social Panorama of Latin America 2012 report indicated.

Likewise, such countries were reported to have brought indigence down.  

For its part, Venezuela, however, reported a slight increase in poverty and indigence rates (up 1.7 and 1.0 percentage points, respectively). Meanwhile, no substantial changes were recorded in Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Changes in poverty were below 1% per year in these countries.

The report outlines, "The trends observed in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Dominican Republic do not entirely coincide with those reported by the official statistical agencies of these two countries. These discrepancies are due to minor differences in methodology related to the price deflator used to adjust the poverty line and the criteria for calculating aggregate household income."

ECLAC concluded that the poverty rate in Latin America fell from 176 million in 2010 to 168 million in 2011, that is, 29.4% of the region's population, EFE cited.

Translated by Jhean Cabrera