​​​The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) revealed in the Social Panorama of Latin America report that in 2020 the region registered the highest indicators of extreme poverty in 20 years​​​

Santiago de Chile, May 24 (RHC)-- The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) revealed in the Social Panorama of Latin America report that in 2020 the region registered the highest indicators of extreme poverty in 20 years.

According to the research, in 2020, Latin America accumulated 78 million people in extreme poverty levels, a figure never reached in the 21st century.  ECLAC states that the increase is largely due to the impact that COVID-19 has had on the economy.

At the same time, the study shows that 12.5 percent of the population in Latin America lives in extreme poverty, an index only surpassed in 1999, when the figure rose to 12.8 percent.

"To curb the spread of the coronavirus (...) governments have adopted quarantine measures. (...). Therefore, entire sectors of the economy have seen their activity halted or temporarily reduced to zero, depending on the rigidity of the measures adopted," adds ECLAC.

At the same time, the regional entity points out that "the contraction of economic activity generated by the pandemic, and the consequent job losses and reduction of labor income," caused an increase "in the low income strata, as well as a process of downward mobility in the middle income strata."