03/15/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/15/2024 08:25
Latin America and the Caribbean are at a crossroads of environmental sustainability and inclusive development; and public governance plays a critical role in a fair green transition, especially given existing inequalities, limited fiscal capacity, and deteriorating public trust. How are public administrations in our region performing in these and other crucial areas for our economic and social development?
With this question in mind, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in coordination with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has published the fourth edition of the most comprehensive set of indicators about public management and governance at the global and regional level, theGovernment at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2024, a compilation of high-level data for policymakers, academics, non-governmental organizations and the public.
This fourth edition celebrates more than 10 years of the successful partnership between the IDB and the OCDE. Since the two institutions teamed up to launch the first study for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2014, the series has been downloaded more than half a million times from the websites of the two organizations. The massive online course launched by the IDB based on this series has had more than 70,000 participants registered.
Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2024 provides reliable and comparable indicators and statistics on governance and public management and their results in the region and compares it to OECD countries so governments in the region can better understand where the gaps are and benchmark themselves against each other and other developed nations.
The indicators show how our governments are performing in traditional areas such as public finances, public procurement, public employment and digital government, and also in emerging and cutting-edge areas of public administration such as gender budgeting, trust in institutions, satisfaction with public services, regulatory governance, green budgeting to address climate change, among others.
This edition includes 160 indicators from more than 20 Latin American and Caribbeancountries displayed in different types of visualizations to allow for easy comparison between countries and different timeframes. Each graphic has a link to the original data in excel that can be freely downloaded.
By offering policymakers and citizens the opportunity to analyze the results and impacts of public policies and to compare the performance of governments, this publication plays a fundamental role in policy dialogue to promote greater effectiveness in the public sector and contribute to the institutional strengthening in the region.
Most of the data in the report were collected from government officials via specifically designed surveys, who also provided evidence to validate their answers with other sources. Data are also drawn from other organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Below we highlight some findings of the publication.
Overall, the evidence laid out in this publication underlines how the region has made progress in several areas, including establishing participatory mechanisms and public integrity regulations, and addressing gender gaps in public sector. Nevertheless, the indicators show that the region also needs to improve in some key public governance capabilities to drive sustainable prosperity, and to achieve sustainable and inclusive goals.
More specifically, our region needs to improve public governance to achieve a green transition and respond to the social and economic impacts of a climate change. This means governments need to be more transparent and accountable for their decisions. They need to improve policymaking based on empirical evidence and be able to monitor and measure the impact of their policies.
Stronger institutions, good governance and the rule of law are at the heart of the IDB's work to promote sustainable and equitable development in Latin America and the Caribbean countries. This study contributes to promote stronger public institutions by providing the most comprehensive set of indicators on public governance in the region. It allows governments to understand where gaps are and how big they are.
As we can see, Government at a Glance Latin America and Caribbean 2024 is a very comprehensive publication, so do not wait another second to download this study and dive into the numbers and findings. We hope this study will support the transparency, public dialogue, and effectiveness in public sector. We, at IDB, are committed with these values and will continue to support the countries in the region in all these areas.
Download the study: Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2024
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Government at a Glance LAC 2014: Focuc on public and fiscal financial management issues. Available in English and Spanish.
Government at a Glance LAC 2017
Government at a Glance LAC 2020: Focuc on integrity and transparency. Available in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Massive Online Course based on the publication: Public and Fiscal Administration: How a Government is Managed
El presupuesto por resultados en América Latina y el Caribe: hallazgos de la encuesta 2023
Avances y oportunidades en la gestión financiera pública verde
Política fiscal para la resiliencia y la descarbonización: aportes al diálogo de políticas
Primer Año de FISLAC: Transformando la Sostenibilidad Fiscal en América Latina y el Caribe
Instrumentos fiscales para la equidad de género