Combined, Latin America is the World's 4th Largest Economy

While we chose 2022 to feature the most recent data available, this chart would look different in different decades. In the 20th century, countries like Argentina and Venezuela would be the drivers of major Latin American GDP growth. As for Brazil, the South American giant’s GDP peaked in 2011 at $2.6T, or among the top 10 largest worldwide. One difficult decade of recession and political crisis later, Brazil is scrambling to recover its top-10 spot after falling to 12th place.

All the way at the top of our chart, there are the world’s two current superpowers, China and the United States. Now, we’d obviously like to see Latin America surpass these two individual countries, especially given the region includes over 30 countries. However, it’s worth noting that both of the chart leaders will certainly play a role in that regard, just as they’ve played roles in contributing to Latin American growth over the past few decades.

China is critical to the major economies of South America, particularly in the cases of countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Peru. Meanwhile, the US forms an overwhelming majority of Mexican trade and investment, something accelerated historically by NAFTA and today by growing US–China tensions.

Regardless, we’ll continue to keep an eye on Latin America & the Caribbean and how it stacks up against the rest of the world. The region has come a long way – and now there remains much to be done in ensuring countries’ economies grow equitably and sustainably for years to come.