Chilean Poverty Rate Resumes Downward Path as Economy Expands
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The percentage of Chileans living below the poverty line fell to 14.4 percent last year, reversing the increase posted in the previous survey in 2009 when the economy was mired in recession.
The poverty rate slid from 15.1 percent three years ago and compared with 13.7 percent in 2006 and 38.6 percent in 1990 when the surveys began, Social Development Minister Joaquin Lavin said today on live TV. Extreme poverty, or the percentage of people who can’t afford the basic basket of foods, fell to 2.8 percent last year from 3.7 percent in 2009.