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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
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LATIN AMERICA
NEWS
| Wednesday
10 November 2010 |
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Latin
America,
Caribbean
World's
Most
Unequal
Region:
UN
QUITO -
Latin
America
and the
Caribbean
is the
most
unequal
region
in the
world,
the
United
Nations
Development
Program
(UNDP)
said in
a report
on
Tuesday.
In its
first
report
on human
development
in the
region,
the UNDP
said 10
of the
15
countries
with the
biggest
inequality
rates in
the
world
are in
the
region.
The
report
said the
most
unequal
countries
are
Bolivia,
Haiti
and
Brazil,
where
the Gini
coefficient
is over
0.55.
The Gini
coefficient
is a key
index on
income
disparity
between
rich and
poor.
The Gini
index of
income
inequality
for
Guatemala,
Chile,
Panama,
Honduras,
Paraguay
and
Colombia
is 0.55,
Guyana
and
Nicaragua
0.54,
the
Dominican
Republic
0.52,
Mexico
0.51 and
Ecuador
0.56.
Latin
American
countries
with
less
inequalities
are
Costa
Rica,
Argentina,
Venezuela
and
Uruguay,
whose
Gini
index is
lower
than
0.49.
While
inequality
in the
region
was on
the rise
during
1980-2000,
it has
witnessed
a slight
drop in
recent
years
due to a
more
balanced
distribution
of
education,
a
reduction
in
non-labor
income
inequality,
economic
growth
and an
improvement
in the
government's
social
expenses.
However,
the
global
economic
crisis
could
halt
this
reduction
in the
coming
years.
To avoid
this
trend,
it is
necessary
to
improve
the
education
quality
and to
increase
social
expenses,
the
report
said.
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