At the end of 2020, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador remained at the bottom of the Human Development Index ranking, while Costa Rica and Panama were better evaluated.
The report entitled The Next Frontier, Human Development and the Anthropocene, which was published on December 15, 2020 at the global level, updates the Human Development Index (HDI) that is calculated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Income from self-employment has improved in rural areas, while urban households purchasing power fell by 1.2% in June 2015.
Although the unemployment rate in Costa Rica was close to 10% in October 2015, the income from self-employment has consolidated becoming the second largest source in the country: it increased by 22.7% in June 2015 compared to same month in 2014 in rural areas and 16.1% in urban areas, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census.
Of a total of 5 million people who make up the economically active population (EAP) of Guatemala only a million are covered by social security.
Data from a study by the Association for Research and Social Studies (Asies), indicates there is a high informal sector in the economy which raises several problems.
"First, the State is no longer provides a guarantee of citizens labor rights.