Latin American Middle Class Grows by 50 Million

by ALBERT SABATÉ

ABC News

Nov 14, 2012

The middle class in Latin America and the Caribbean grew by 50 percent in roughly the last decade, according to a recent report by the World Bank.

In 2003 the group represented about 103 million people. In 2009, the most recent count, it's an estimated 152 million. Experts hailed the 49 million-person increase as a successful result of economic policy by Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) governments, but also cautioned that much more remains to be done.

"The recent experience of Latin America and the Caribbean shows the world that policies balancing economic growth while still expanding opportunities for the most vulnerable can spread prosperity to millions of people," said World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim. "Governments […] still need to do much more – one third of the population is still in poverty."

For decades, little progress was made in the region to reduce poverty and grow the middle class, according to the report. But economic stability and growth in the region, coupled with more recent changes emphasizing the delivery of social programs, spurred this meteoric boost.

"It's a remarkable phenomenon," said Augusto de la Torre, chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank. " [But] I think we in Latin America have to be very careful not to sing victory, yet, because this has been accompanied by very strong tail winds in the last ten years – very favorable economic conditions."

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