Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Figure IV.15 Latin America and the Caribbean (21 countries): public social spending by function, 1991-1992 to 2013-2014a b
(Percentages of GDP) 25
6.81 19.45
20
15
12.65
3.49 8.98
10 1.93 5
0
1.44 4.95
3.01
Total social spending
4.16
5.48
-0.06
2.72 Education
1991-1992 2003-2004
1993-1994 2005-2006
1.43 Health
1995-1996 2007-2008
Social security and welfare
1997-1998 2009-2010
1999-2000 2011-2012
1.37 Housing and other
2001-2002 2013-2014
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of official data provided by the countries. a Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). b Weighted average of country figures. Figures are rounded to two decimal points; hence the differences between bienniums 1991-1992 and 2013-2014 may not correspond to those resulting from a direct calculation of the figures shown.
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The other sector in which there has been a notable increase in spending (of 1.9 percentage points of GDP) over the past 22 years is education. This increase reflects the great efforts made to expand the coverage and accessibility of primary education in the poorest countries, and secondary education in the others (in terms of infrastructure, and, above all, of current expenditure, associated mainly with the increase in teaching staff) as well as, to a lesser extent, an expansion of public post-secondary education. These developments have come at the expense of growth in the health sector, which posted a smaller increase than social spending (1.4 percentage points of GDP on a regional
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basis), despite the fact that, in contrast to education, the potential beneficiaries of these services are persons of all ages. The sector receiving the least attention has been housing (which includes drinking water supply, sanitation, community infrastructure and, lately, the environment), despite the fact that in practically all countries and major cities there are still large pockets of substandard housing and segregation. There has even been a contraction in the most recent biennium (-0.1 percentage points of GDP), owing in part to an expansion in the preceding period when housing was used as a tool to boost job creation and revitalize the region’s domestic economies, particularly the construction industry.