Infographic: Population in Latin America: Growth Projections and Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on global population growth trends, changing the years of life expectancy and the number of births and deaths in the world. The Latin American and Caribbean region was especially susceptible. The Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center (CELADE) and the Population Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) presented their 2022 report, with special emphasis on the impact of the pandemic on demographic behavior.

One of the most important conclusions is that the region is starting a population aging trend. "The region as a whole is in a relatively accelerated stage of aging," says the report entitled "Demographic Observatory. Latin America and the Caribbean 2022." Despite this aging, currently "the trend is for Latin American countries to show positive growth, while Caribbean countries show zero or negative growth."

These figures are very significant for the regional economy and for each country, since it allows us to understand what public policies will be necessary to respond to the needs of the population. Pension reforms and care policies will undoubtedly be among the most relevant issues in the coming years. We show you some outstanding data:

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The report also points out that there are large gaps in the region in terms of data collection and quality. In fact, the pandemic caused many censuses to be delayed, and information management slowed down, or the information was simply not collected. "Many countries have not yet reached a level of completeness of at least 90% of deaths and live births at the national level or have large regional disparities in terms of data quality," he notes.