Social inequality introduced during the dictatorship has prospered in democracy and now 1% of the population controls 30% of GDP.
They call it the Switzerland of Latin America and the figures seemingly confirm the comparison. With GDP growth exceeding 3% this year and an average annual per capita income (at purchasing power parity) of $22,000 (roughly €20,500), Chile is one of the steadiest and most advanced economies south of the Rio Grande. These are not one-off figures: from 2007 to 2012, Chile’s annual average GDP grew at a rate of 3.9%. Each silver lining, however, has a cloud – or as in Chile’s case, many clouds. Income inequality is rampant. The worst, in fact, of all the other 33 OSCE countries, including Mexico and Turkey.
In view of such a marked disparity (Chile’s Gini coefficient is 0.50), comparisons with Switzerland are perhaps a little premature. But a metro ride in Santiago from, for instance, the central neighbourhood of Bellas Artes to the suburb of Las Condes, is enough to grasp the importance of efficiency in the Chilean national mentality. On time and spotless, the capital’s metros could easily be mistaken for Lausanne’s. T However, “you don’t find beggars on the metro because they aren’t allowed on”, says Maria, a 30-year-old public employee from Santiago. “But the poor do exist and they are many”.
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Social inequality introduced during the dictatorship has prospered in democracy and now 1% of the population controls 30% of GDP.
