KEY FIGURES

2.8M CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES IN LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN AS OF 5 JULY

COLLAPSING TOURISM THREATENING REGIONAL ECONOMIES

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reports that Latin America and the Caribbean, home to many tourism-dependent economies, will suffer an unprecedented economic shock due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on tourism. Tourism in the Caribbean accounts for 50 to 90 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and employment in some countries, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While Central and South America are comparatively less reliant on tourism, some countries will also feel the downturn - from 2014 to 2018, tourism accounted for an average of 16 per cent of economic output and employment in Mexico and 10 per cent of GDP and employment in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

IDB predicts that the drop in tourism in the region due to the pandemic could be from 40 to 70 per cent.

Read more:

Latin America & The Caribbean - Weekly Situation Update (29 June-5 July 2020) As of 6 July 2020 - Brazil - ReliefWeb