Electric cars are taking off quickly in Latin America | Our World in Data
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Data InsightsElectric cars are taking off quickly in Latin America<br>July 14, 2026<br>Electric cars are taking off quickly in Latin America
Esteban Ortiz-Ospina<br>Download
Five years ago, almost no one in Latin America bought an electric car. Today, the situation is different: electric cars now make up a meaningful and fast-growing share of new car sales.<br>The chart shows this trend across several of the region’s largest car markets, alongside the US for comparison.<br>The data tracks the share of new passenger cars sold that are electric, which includes both fully battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids.<br>In five years, Colombia went from nearly zero to 10%, catching up to the US.<br>In other countries in the region, adoption took off a bit later, but is now rising fast too. Mexico, for example, went from 2% to 7% in a single year (2024–2025).<br>An important part of this reflects policies. Many Latin American countries, like Colombia, offer tax breaks and other incentives for buying electric cars.<br>Explore this data with our interactive chart
Related topic pages:<br>Energy<br>Renewable Energy<br>Technological Change
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Our latest Data Insights<br>See all Data Insights<br>Today<br>Thailand’s population may have already peaked<br>Hannah Ritchie, Edouard Mathieu, and Lucas Rodés-Guirao<br>Many countries are in a fairly unique demographic position in history: their populations are shrinking not due to a temporary shock but to sustained structural decline.<br>If we look at the United Nations’ population estimates and medium projections, 66 countries and territories had already passed peak population this year. Almost all of them are in Europe and East Asia.<br>But there is one country in Southeast Asia in this position: Thailand. As you can see in the chart, the UN projects that its population will continue to fall throughout this century.<br>This is the result of a rapid drop in fertility rates. In 1970, women in Thailand had an average of 6 children; twenty years later, that had fallen to 2. This was as fast as China’s decline. Today, the rate is at most 1.2 children per woman, and some national statistics put it closer to 1.<br>What makes Thailand unusual is that this happened while it was still a relatively poor country. In 1970, it launched its National Family Planning Program. This was voluntary and non-coercive, but effectively increased contraceptive use, family planning access, and education levels for women.<br>Explore which other countries may have already peaked
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August 20<br>Four developed countries met the UN’s target for foreign aid in 2025<br>Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Arriagada<br>In the 1970s, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution asking developed countries to contribute at least 0.7% of their national income to foreign aid. Most countries signed off on this goal, except for Switzerland and the United States.<br>But very few countries have met this target in the fifty years since then. Even today, only a handful of countries do.<br>In 2023, five countries met this target: Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, and Denmark. Two years on, this has dropped to four, as Germany’s contribution shrank to 0.6%.<br>As you can see in the chart, other developed countries give less than 0.7% of their national income.<br>Explore more of our charts on foreign aid: who contributes, and where it goes
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August 18<br>Guyana’s oil-driven economy has seen the world’s fastest growth in GDP per capita in recent years<br>Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Pablo Arriagada<br>Guyana, a small country in South America, has seen the fastest growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world over the past decade.<br>This is illustrated in the chart, which shows GDP per capita for Guyana and several other countries, based on estimates from the World Bank.<br>The data is adjusted for inflation, so Guyana’s sharp growth is not due to price changes over time.<br>A large and sudden expansion in oil production has driven most of this growth. Between 2020 and 2025, the country’s oil production grew 860%, making it a key contributor to global crude oil supply growth.<br>Before oil extraction started, Guyana’s GDP per capita was well below the global average. It is now more than three times higher.<br>It’s too early to see the full effects of this, and hard to measure how far the oil boom has translated into better living standards in the country. Official poverty estimates, for example, have not been published since production began. But there is early evidence of the government channeling oil revenue toward citizens, for instance, through cash grants for every adult, free tuition at public universities, and increasing health spending.<br>Read more about oil production and fossil fuels
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August 15<br>Rich countries spend 60 times as much on healthcare per person as poor countries<br>Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Arriagada<br>Rich countries spend, on average, the equivalent of $7,300...