High rate of informal work in Latin America

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), Latin America (especially Honduras, Peru and Paraguay) has a current unemployment rate of 6.4%, with 267 million workers, of whom 127 million are informal.

Elizabeth Tinoco, ILO regional director, said that the number of informal workers represent 47.7% of the total of Latin American and Caribbean workers, which have been declining.

According to Jose Chacaltana, specialist on employment and formalizing ILO policies, according to estimates made by the organization, they would need about 50 years to reduce informality in half.

Countries with a higher rate of informality are: Honduras (70.7%), Peru (68.8%), Paraguay (65.8%), El Salvador (65.7%), Colombia (56.8%) , Mexico (54.2%), Ecuador (52.2%) and Dominican Republic (50%).

Elizabeth Tinoco