Education and Standards of Living
The other conspicuous characteristic of the Southern Cone is its relatively high standard of living and quality of life. Chile's, Argentina’s, and Uruguay's HDIs—(0.805), (0.795), and (0.783)—are the highest in Latin America, similar to those of the richest countries in Eastern Europe, such as Slovenia, Poland or Hungary. Uruguay, where illiteracy technically does not exist, reaches the same level in this area, even considering that it faces restrictions to its industrial and economic growth. The Southern Cone is the most prosperous macro-region in Latin America. It has high life expectancy, access to health care and education. From an economic and liberal point of view the region has been praised for its significant participation in the global markets, and its "emerging economy" profile. More troubling are high levels of income inequality.
| Country | GDP per capita (PPP) |
Income equality |
Poverty Index |
Human Develop. |
Quality of life |
Annual economic growth |
Envirnm. Perform. (2008) |
FSI 2011 |
CPI 2010 |
IEF 2011 |
GPI 2011 |
DI 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Cone | 17,359 | 46.8 | 3.3 | 0.795 (H) | 6.766 | 7.6 | 82.5 | 42.6 | 5.7 | 69.7 | 1.694 | 7.54 |
| Mexico | 15,177 | 51.7 | 5.9 | 0.770 (H) | 6.542 | 5.4 | 79.8 | 75.1 | 3.1 | 67.8 | 2.362 | 6.93 |
| South America | 9,389 | 51.7 | 9.1 | 0.705 (H) | 6.000 | 6.0 | 79.4 | 77.3 | 2.9 | 55.7 | 2.190 | 6.19 |
| Central America | 8,033 | 52.2 | 12.6 | 0.662 (M) | 5.897 | 3.8 | 79.3 | 70.6 | 3.4 | 63.3 | 2.077 | 6.53 |
Southern Cone = Argentina Chile Uruguay
Mexico = Mexico
South America = Brazil Colombia Venezuela Paraguay Ecuador Peru Bolivia
Central America = Costa Rica Panama Nicaragua Honduras El Salvador Guatemala
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—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)