The Peruvian Economy
3. STUDY AREA
3.1 Peru
Peru covers 1,285,216 km2 of western South America. It is a democratic republic divided into 25 geographic and political regions and the current population is estimated to be about 30.475 million people (INEI 2013; USAID/Peru 2012b; World Bank 2007). According to the World Bank, the economy of Peru is classified as upper middle income and is the 42nd largest in the world (World Bank 2014a). Peru is a market oriented economy with a high level of foreign trade. Peru is a mega diverse country, however these natural resources have not been used efficiently to develop the economy, and the national economy has relied on mining since colonial times, as well as agriculture, fishing and manufacturing of textiles (World Bank …show more content…
Nevertheless an equal distribution of income has not been reached. Although the national poverty rate had been reduced 15 percent between 2002 and 2008, around 40 percent of the Peruvian population lives below the national poverty line and 14 percent live in extreme poverty. In the Human Development Report, the country ranks 82 of 187 countries (UNDP 2014), and there remains a great difference in income levels across the population, reflected in a Gini coefficient of 0.48 (1 indicating complete inequality). The amount of the population not having enough calories differs greatly between rural and urban homes (FAO 2010b). The food expenditure of households in Peru is still a significant share of total expenditure. In general, households spend around 40 percent of their income on food, this amount increases to 50 percent in rural areas. The percentage of the national population that does not obtain the minimum required calorie intake (2100 kcal) is 32 percent. This caloric deficit reaches around 42.5 percent in rural households. Moreover, chronic infant malnutrition is 21.5 percent and 33.1 percent of children less than five suffer from anemia (World Bank 2014a; UNDP 2014; FAO
3.1 Peru
Peru covers 1,285,216 km2 of western South America. It is a democratic republic divided into 25 geographic and political regions and the current population is estimated to be about 30.475 million people (INEI 2013; USAID/Peru 2012b; World Bank 2007). According to the World Bank, the economy of Peru is classified as upper middle income and is the 42nd largest in the world (World Bank 2014a). Peru is a market oriented economy with a high level of foreign trade. Peru is a mega diverse country, however these natural resources have not been used efficiently to develop the economy, and the national economy has relied on mining since colonial times, as well as agriculture, fishing and manufacturing of textiles (World Bank …show more content…
Nevertheless an equal distribution of income has not been reached. Although the national poverty rate had been reduced 15 percent between 2002 and 2008, around 40 percent of the Peruvian population lives below the national poverty line and 14 percent live in extreme poverty. In the Human Development Report, the country ranks 82 of 187 countries (UNDP 2014), and there remains a great difference in income levels across the population, reflected in a Gini coefficient of 0.48 (1 indicating complete inequality). The amount of the population not having enough calories differs greatly between rural and urban homes (FAO 2010b). The food expenditure of households in Peru is still a significant share of total expenditure. In general, households spend around 40 percent of their income on food, this amount increases to 50 percent in rural areas. The percentage of the national population that does not obtain the minimum required calorie intake (2100 kcal) is 32 percent. This caloric deficit reaches around 42.5 percent in rural households. Moreover, chronic infant malnutrition is 21.5 percent and 33.1 percent of children less than five suffer from anemia (World Bank 2014a; UNDP 2014; FAO