Regional Agenda World Economic Forum on Latin America

The report outlines a regional agenda for Latin America to achieve shared progress by diversifying economies away from commodity dependence, investing in human capital to reduce youth unemployment, and modernizing physical and institutional infrastructure. It highlights the growth of the middle class and the need for financial inclusion and climate change adaptation.

• Latin American economies are heavily dependent on commodities, which account for 60% of the region's export income, compared to 40% at the start of the century. This reliance creates volatility due to fluctuations in external demand and prices, and has sometimes displaced local manufacturing.
• There is a significant gap in capital investment for infrastructure; the Development Bank of Latin America estimates that regional investment needs to increase from an average of 20% of GDP to 28% of GDP to boost competitiveness.
• The region faces a critical human capital challenge characterized by high youth unemployment (12.9%), which is more than double the adult rate, and a workforce where half are engaged in informal employment.
• While the middle class has tripled to 152 million people (representing 32% of the population), income inequality remains severe, with 10 of the 15 most unequal countries in the world located in Latin America.
• Financial inclusion is low, with less than 40% of the population holding a bank account, though the high penetration of mobile phones offers a pathway for e-payment systems and broader financial access.
• Urbanization in Latin America is the highest in the world, exceeding 80%, which has led to saturated cities, a housing deficit of 50 million homes, and negative impacts on safety and transportation.
• The region is prioritizing climate change adaptation and the protection of environmental assets like the Amazon Basin to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, with Peru hosting the Conference of the Parties (COP) to drive an aggressive agenda.

APA

World Economic Forum (2014). Regional Agenda World Economic Forum on Latin America. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/LA14/WEF_LA14_Report.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Regional Agenda World Economic Forum on Latin America. 2014. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/LA14/WEF_LA14_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Regional Agenda World Economic Forum on Latin America |date=2014 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/LA14/WEF_LA14_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2014regional, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Regional Agenda World Economic Forum on Latin America}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2014}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/LA14/WEF_LA14_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }