The Social Outlook in Latin America

Using findings from the Ipsos Global Advisor Survey conducted every month in 28 countries around the world (including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) Jean-Christophe Salles, CEO of Ipsos in Latin America, presented on the social context across the region at the Canning House LatAm Outlook 2022 conference on 7th December 2021. This event sought to provide a refreshed outlook of the forces shaping Latin America’s politics, economics, social trends, health, security, and environment over the next 5 years and beyond.

Some key findings from the social outlook presentation include:

• Over three-quarters (77%) of Latin Americans say that things are heading in the wrong direction, and the gap with the global country average has been increasing over the last year
• Ipsos disruption barometer, which measures consumer sentiment and socio-political stability, finds all the key Latin American countries are in red/negative territory and worse off than at the end of 2019 – except for Mexico. This could generate social instability and a desire for political change.
• The top four highest-scoring countries in the 2021 broken system sentiment index are in Latin America.
• Most Latin Americans agree that in their country, there is increasing conflict between people who don’t share the same values.
• Crime and Violence, Financial or political corruption, Poverty and Social Inequality, and Unemployment, are all considered to be pressing concerns in Latin America. Covid-19 is less of a prominent issue – ranked sixth, while it remains the primary concern globally.
• Education is an emerging issue for the region. As it had some of the longest lockdowns in the world, children missed out on a large portion of their education.
• Recovery from the Covid-19 crisis will take time – and recovery will probably take even longer in Latin America. Almost half of Latin Americans (45%) believe it will take more than 3 years.