Analysis for Latin America

As we did with Asia and Africa, we begin the discussion of Latin America with a review of health, education and income. Of the three regions, Latin America has the highest living standard, measured either by its ranking in human development or by the level of per capita income. Latin American economies in our sample rank in the top half of countries in the Human Development Index and (with one exception) also in terms of per capita income (see Table 4.1). The other regions cannot stake a similar claim, and Africa dominates the lower ranks of both the HDI and per capita income. Because of these rankings, we would expect that it would be more difficult for Latin America to make as much progress as the other regions, which started from a much lower base. Nevertheless, life expectancy increased by a few years between 1990 and 2008. See Table 4.2 for an overview of various health indicators for Latin American countries. The average increase for all countries combined is about four years, ranging from eight years in Guatemala to less than one year in Trinidad and Tobago. Life expectancy was over 69 for all countries in this region in 2008. Infant mortality and under-5 mortality also improved over the past 18 years. Infant mortality fell most dramatically in Peru, from 62 per thousand births in 1990 to 20 in 2008.