Economic and Social Development

Trade

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  over the past year Guatemalas exports of textiles, clothes and agricultural products such as winter vegetables, fruit and flowers have come into great demand. Other exports such sugar, bananas and coffee have continued to contribute to a large part of the goods exported by guatemala. over the span of the last twenty years the percentage of goods and services that have been exported has changed. In 1990 it was 21% and in the year 2000 it was 20% it increased again in 2010 to 26%. In contrast the level of imports has been increasing in 1990 the percentage of imported good was 25% and in 2000 it increased to 29% and then in 2010 it increased to 36%. The United States is Guatemalas largest trading partner, it supplies 36% of Guatemalas imports while receiving 40% of its imports  [1]

Economic Recovery



Guatemala recorded rates of growth that were not the greatest in the span of 2001 to 2004 when growth started to increase as can be seen in table 1. From 2001 to 2003 the growth of the economy slowed down to a rate that is below the growth rate of the population. Investors confidence has been regained by the introduction of the free trade agreement with the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic, as well as improved macroeconomic management as well as an increase in competitiveness and the diversification of exports. [2]

Employment

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During a span of 4 years from 2004 to 2008 the amount of people unemployed in the informal sector increased while the amount of people unemployed int eh formal sector decreased. Unemployment as a percentage of the labor force stayed at 3.4%. Agriculture is still the largest employer, which provides 39% of total jobs, next is the service sector which provides 38% and then industry which accounts for 20%. [2]

Foreign Investors

Foreign investment has grown with the introduction of the new trade agreements, although the government is still having problems agreeing on reforms that would increase investment as well as address the needs of the people. The concerns investors have are with security, quality of the labor force, shortages, unsatisfactory human development conditions and weak infrastructure. According to a World Bank study on business friendliness Guatemala ranked 112 out of 181 countries. It had problems with getting businesses open and handling construction permits. [2]

Inequality

 Guatemala is under a category of a country with a medium human development, and it has a rank of 118 out 177 countries and a human development index of .689. Guatemala has the second highest inequality rate in all of Latin America with Panama having the highest. Guatemala has a very high Gini coefficient of 55.1 and 64% of the total income for the country resides in the hands of 20% of the population. [2]

Poverty

Extreme Poverty in Guatemala decreased during the 90's but increased once again after the year 2000 primarily due to the coffee crisis and the drought. The rate of exteme poverty reached 21.5 percent in 2004 and fell again in 2005. Numbers from 2006 reveal that more than half of the population lives in poverty while 15.2 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty. Rural areas report the highest rates of poverty with a rate of 72% and 24.4% for extreme poverty. The lack of work opportunities has led to the migration from rural to urban areas which puts greater pressure on basic services which in turn increases poverty in urban areas. The ethnic inequality is evident when you take into account that 74.8 of those living in poverty are indigenous. [2]

 Malnutrition in Children

The child malnutrition rate is 49%  for children that are between 2 and 60 months of age, compared with central americas average of 22%. During 1998 through 2002 certain parts of Guatemala reported improvements in nutrition. The inequalities between indigenous and non-indigenous are more evident when the comparing the malnutrition rates which are at 70% and 36% respectively. [2]

Education



The attendance for primary school has increased from 72% in 1991 to 84% in 2000 and then rose to 96% in 2007. Although the rate of illiteracy in adults has increased from 64.2% in 1995 to 69.1% in 2005. The average amount of schooling for adults aboe the age of 14 which is 4.3 years is the second lowest in Latin America. Large gaps in education continue with the lowest greater incidences occurring in indigenous children and poor people, with greater incidences occurring in rural areas. [2] 
   

     






[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Guatemala
[2] http://www.oecd.org/countries/guatemala/46820221.pdf