Description:
In the period 1970-2002, Latin American economic development indicators were fluctuating significantly – from a decrease of 5.6 percent in 1971-1980 GDP growth to only 1.2 percent in 1981-1990, and an increase up to 3.3 percent GDP growth per year in the decade 1991-2000. The poverty that followed the collapse of the petroleum business in the 1980s was only reversed in the 1990s. During the last decade, as a result of economic reforms and private sector development, inflation rates reduced and the population who lived below the poverty level decreased significantly. Latin America and the Caribbean represent the region with greatest income inequality in the world.