A view of the city skyline is seen from the Paraguay River in Asuncion, Paraguay, in 2017. File Photo by Andres Cristaldo/EPA
July 16 (UPI) -- Latin America has long lived with a frustrating paradox. The region has abundant natural resources and a young population. Its economies, however, have grown at disappointing rates for decades.
This is not a historical footnote. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean revised its 2026 regional growth forecast down to 2.2% in April, citing tighter financial conditions and slowing global trade.
If that estimate holds, the region will have logged four consecutive years of growth near 2.3%, a run ECLAC itself has called a "persistent pattern of low growth capacity."
The World Bank's April 2026 update cites the same constraints, though it notes pockets of dynamism among smaller economies integrating into nearshoring supply chains.
