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LOCALWednesday 17 February
New Edition:
ECLAC’s Statistical Yearbook Compiles Relevant Data on the Region’s Situation
-The 2015 edition updates
a selected group of indica-
tors of Latin America and
the Caribbean countries.
ORANJESTAD - The Eco-
nomic Commission for Lat-
in America and the Carib-
bean (ECLAC) recently re-
leased the Statistical Year- which include population,
book for Latin America and
the Caribbean 2015, avail-
able on the Internet, which
gives a statistical overview
of the social, economic
and environmental devel-
opment processes in the
region’s countries.
This annual publication
contributes to generating
knowledge on Latin Amer-
ica and the Caribbean
and, therefore, it is an es-
sential reference report for
the comparative analysis
of countries with descrip- employment, education, that 94.6% of Latin Ameri- centage point higher than
tive statistical data. This health, housing and basic can inhabitants used im- in 2013.
edition contains informa- services, poverty and in- proved sources of drinking The third chapter presents
tion that was available un- come distribution and gen- water provision and 83.1% statistics related to the en-
til mid-December 2015. der indicators. had better sanitary fa- vironment, its land cover,
The Yearbook is organized According to this data, es- cilities in 2015, although in ecosystems and biodiver-
in four chapters. The first timates show that by mid- rural areas these percent- sity; energy, water and
one addresses demo- 2015 Latin America and ages drop to 83% and 64%, biologic resources; use of
graphic and social topics, the Caribbean population respectively. land; air emissions; extreme
rose to 634 million people, The second chapter offers events and natural disas-
of whom around 80% lived economic statistics, pro- ters; regulation; and envi-
in cities and 50% were be- viding data on national ronmental management.
tween 15 and 49 years old. accounts, balance of pay- Of the 2 billion estimated
In the labor area in 2014, ments, international trade hectares in Latin America
as an average for 18 Latin and price indexes, among and the Caribbean, 20%
American countries, the others. The Yearbook shows are protected areas and
greatest part of the em- that in 2014 the region’s 46% of the total extension is
ployed population were growth closed at 1.2%, forest, of which the great-
dedicated to the commer- the current account bal- est part is natural forest
cial sector and other ser- ance registered a deficit (98%). The document also
vices (48.2%), agriculture of almost 180 billion dollars shows that in 2013 the re-
(18.5%) and manufacture (2.7% of the regional GDP), gional fishing production
(11.9%). while the average rate of rose to around 13 billion
On the other hand, the Sta- regional annual inflation tons, while soybean was
tistical Yearbook indicates increased to 7.8%, 1.2 per- the crop with the greatest
cultivated area (49% of the
total), followed by wheat
and sugar cane.
Finally, the Yearbook dedi-
cates a chapter to ad-
dressing the methodologi-
cal aspects of the statistics
presented, as well as refer-
ences to the data sources.
Given that most of the in-
formation comes directly
from national statistic of-
fices, central banks, inter-
national organizations and
other official institutions,
ECLAC invites users to pay
attention to the sources
and technical notes pre-
sented in this document.
The data is obtained from
international methodolo-
gies and standards with the
aim of guaranteeing the
comparability between
countries. Therefore, these
figures may not necessar-
ily coincide with national
data.
The complete text in PDF
format and the Excel tables
of the Statistical Yearbook
for Latin America and the
Caribbean 2015 are avail-
able on ECLAC’s Web site.
More statistical information
about Latin America and
the Caribbean can be
found on the CEPALSTAT
Web site, which includes
a set of thematic data-
bases and indicators that
are updated periodically
and cover additional ar-
eas and a greater tempo-
rary coverage than those
included in this document.