5 Poorest Countries in South America

The 5 poorest countries in South America come to show that while the world is galloping towards a sci-fi like model of effortless everyday life, there is still much to be done about certain corners of the world. Take a look at our list of the 10 poorest countries in the world if you need to see some of the more obvious examples. In a world where monetary value is the only value that is recognized regardless of race, age, social status and so forth, being from a poor country is surely a very early red light on the way to a fulfilling and comfortable life.

To make matters worse, the gap between the rich and poor there is light years from what you can observe in the more developed parts of the world. Not only the wealthy and less economically fortunate there living in two completely different worlds but there is virtually no middle class in certain places. People don’t really see it that way but the continent has a very low population density overall and accounts for just six percent of the world’s population. People there haven’t adopted the “modern” type of crafts, trades, industries or whatever you may call it, due to the past hindrances in their economical development. The main types of economic activity there are mining, agriculture and forestry which is reflected in the country’s biggest exports which consist of natural resources and produce. All of the twelve nations on this piece of land are still battling poverty, poor urbanization and rampaging crime. It was all the way to 1990 that the countries of the continent started adopting the Free Market model which, in turn, eventually played an important role in bringing the continent out of a several decades-old debt crisis that was first brought on by a poorly designed economic model that aimed to make smaller businesses competitive.

While being very economically inactive in pre-WWII times, the country’s economy is rapidly developing nowadays but when starting from the bottom, it usually takes some time to get up to speed with the rest of the world.

Without any more dry and boring facts about the economy of a whole continent which probably mostly means beautiful scenery, Alpacas and coffee to you, let’s take a look at the 5 poorest countries in South America.

5. Peru

Peru has been jumping back and forth from the sixth to the fifth place in the rankings. However, this year it takes the fifth place in the countries with the lowest per-capita GDP even though the country ranks among the biggest producers and exporters of silver. While people claim that Peru is undergoing major development currently, this is only true for the more urbanized regions. On the other side, the rural parts of the country are basically stuck in the feudal age with little to no access to all we hold in high regard in modern civilization.

 

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4. Ecuador

Our fourth contender is the beautiful Andean nation of Ecuador, where poverty is still so rampant it is an issue of national importance. Statistics show that over thirty-five percent of the population of the country are stricken by poverty and that a considerable amount of them live even lower than the poverty threshold. Recently, however, the situation has been improving after the country adopted the US dollar as a main means of monetary transactions.

3. Guyana

Guyana (about which some of you probably are wondering whether or not it was located in Africa) ranks third in our list of the 5 poorest countries in South America. A considerable portion of the population – above forty percent are living in poverty and about two-thirds of them are living life in an environment of the inhumane deficit of funds. The problems which hinder the improvement of these statistics are mainly centered around the very poor infrastructure there and the lack of skilled workforce.

 

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2. Paraguay

Paraguay’s smaller cities and more rural areas are the main victims of the extreme poverty that has been plaguing the country for the better part of its existence now. Even though the country has witnessed one of its biggest economic growth spurts in the past five years, it has only taken it this far from where it started.

1. Bolivia

The least economically fortunate of the 5 poorest countries in South America is Bolivia, where poverty is pretty much the norm. Over half of its population lives below the poverty line and the levels of life-threatening lack of money affects the lives of a concerning part of them.While Bolivia’s government is trying to battle this horribly threatening issue, the results are still not too convincing.