A survey measured the opinion that Latin American citizens have on regional integration and revealed that 71% are in favor, even in times of challenging crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The information comes from the latest study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) entitled “The Latin American Voice: Perceptions on Regional Integration and Trade: February 2022”, Prepared in conjunction with Latinobarómetro, one of the main public opinion polls in Latin America.
According to the Data collected mainly in 2020 and finalized in 2021“The integrationist vocation remains intact,” in the words of the IDB. The survey shows that regional integration remains at the same levels as in the 2018 survey.
Integration is clearly a key element in the recovery of Latin American and Caribbean countries. According to the study, this initiative represents “a favorable space for the recovery of national economies in a context of reduced global trade and reconfiguration of value chains.” Furthermore, the data show that citizens do not distinguish between “integration with other Latin American countries” and “integration with other Latin American countries.” (71%)"and" integration outside the region (70%)".
According to Country analysisUruguay shows the highest level of civic support for integration in the region (89%), followed by El Salvador (84%) with support in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Paraguay and Costa Rica, all exceeding 75%.
The integrationist vocation could be associated with the benefits perceived by citizens regarding the regional free trade (66% support), and to a lesser extent, to the impact of the trade agreements on national economies (56% believe they have positive impacts on their country's economy) or on the immigration (5 out of 10 Latin Americans consider it positive).
Even so, the report states that only 47% of Latin Americans believe that their country has moved towards greater regional integration in the last 5 years years. Chile and El Salvador are the countries where citizens perceive the greatest progress (69% and 65%).
Also, the results show that support for integration differs according to some characteristics of citizens. The data show that such a perception increased with people's educational level and income level, and decreased with age. The strongest support comes from men, people under 45, higher income groups and university graduates.
According to the report there was progress in the digitalization during the pandemic. 92% of the Latin American population uses social media, but only 23% make e-commerce purchases. Argentina stood out for its strong e-commerce penetration with 55%, while 31% are Mercado Libre users.
In short, the survey carried out in person in 18 countries in the region, with representative samples from each country, reveals that the majority of those surveyed support Latin American integration, which in 2020 was presented in a broad sense.The Latin American Voice: Perceptions on Regional Integration and Trade: February 2022)
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