E-readness in Latin America

The context for e-commerce keeps

improving in the region. In 2011 the e-readiness

index reached 0.80, a 30% increase over 2009.

E-READINESSin Latin America

a survey on the conditions for e-commerce in the region

2 latin america e-readiness survey

Per chanceEvolution of e-commerce (US$ Million) and e-readiness index in Latin Americasource: AméricAeconomíA intelligence

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

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0.52 0.55

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e-commerce e-readiness

ARGENTINA 40.9 10,234.6 16.2 67.4 0.84 231.7 1,295.8 310.0 139.4 30.2 0.85 561.7 530.9 14,588 0.45 8.0 21.6 2,695 0.83 no 5 0.14 0.69 BOLIVIA 10.6 2,152.6 14.6 18.7 0.35 79.8 883.8 32.1 9.0 54.2 0.34 26.3 188.2 1,629 0.06 1.0 3.1 146 0.37 no 0 0.04 0.26 BRAZIL 194.9 12,043.7 17.3 43.0 1.84 220.6 1,242.6 308.0 84.6 16.0 1.04 889.0 1,367.6 174,920 1.14 21.1 14.7 25,553 1.35 no 21 0.50 1.24 CHILE 17.4 13,657.6 14.2 42.0 0.57 194.8 1,234.7 429.0 114.4 19.2 0.98 301.8 732.6 8,200 0.58 17.0 14.0 1,490 1.15 yes 8 0.60 0.80 COLOMBIA 46.1 7,061.6 16.0 47.3 0.77 154.8 1,003.2 127.0 106.5 25.6 0.68 208.2 358.5 9,500 0.23 3.7 4.0 998 0.27 no 3 0.11 0.48 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 10.1 5,641.4 15.5 41.0 0.47 74.7 857.3 26.8 37.6 17.9 0.67 186.9 320.5 2,073 0.18 7.7 8.6 698 0.68 no 1 0.00 0.46 ECUADOR 15.0 4,358.1 15.5 32.7 0.47 128.9 1,056.6 153.8 42.3 24.9 0.61 147.5 200.3 3,349 0.14 9.5 5.2 238 0.54 no 0 0.04 0.42 GUATEMALA 14.7 3,179.6 14.3 15.5 0.37 105.5 1,259.9 28.3 17.6 39.6 0.47 149.7 130.2 2,427 0.14 1.3 4.2 258 0.58 yes 1 0.12 0.36 HONDURAS 8.2 2,070.9 15.4 10.9 0.31 74.8 1,202.7 24.8 108.6 31.0 0.57 82.4 183.1 814 0.12 N,D, 2.1 94 0.41 no 1 0.12 0.35 MEXICO 109.7 10,394.8 16.6 29.4 1.17 179.4 861.9 215.0 107.9 24.9 0.71 152.5 764.2 36,448 0.27 7.3 6.5 6,137 0.70 no 23 0.34 0.69 NICARAGUA 5.9 1,201.3 16.4 21.2 0.34 48.1 713.2 73.0 8.1 22.0 0.51 127.8 130.6 629 0.11 0.7 2.1 39 0.22 no 1 0.12 0.30 PANAMA 3.6 8,656.0 15.3 42.4 0.45 151.1 1,614.2 32.7 40.5 11.7 0.94 166.9 587.4 1,185 0.67 2.1 5.6 340 0.45 no 1 0.12 0.61 PERU 30.0 5,936.3 16.2 29.5 0.58 98.3 989.4 154.0 30.4 36.9 0.51 230.2 329.5 5,042 0.23 2.3 5.3 611 0.42 yes 2 0.15 0.42 PUERTO RICO 3.7 23,927.5 15.4 47.0 0.59 222.9 838.5 286.9 147.9 30.0 0.65 368.4 492.5 1,637 0.48 7.6 4.3 1,961 1.20 no 0 0.04 0.63 PARAGUAY 6.5 3,590.0 15.9 25.5 0.38 62.0 882.5 143.1 6.0 17.6 0.58 155.4 152.4 870 0.18 5.9 2.6 128 0.38 no 0 0.04 0.37 EL SALVADOR 5.9 3,832.5 14.7 16.7 0.32 167.0 1,516.8 112.6 29.7 37.0 0.56 128.6 250.5 1,297 0.17 3.4 2.5 154 0.47 no 1 0.12 0.37 URUGUAY 3.4 14,194.5 14.2 55.1 0.53 286.4 1,362.5 189.4 174.3 19.2 0.98 653.4 444.1 1,040 0.66 17.4 11.8 273 0.91 no 0 0.04 0.71 VENEZUELA 29.8 10,537.6 16.1 34.7 0.63 237.9 966.9 195.1 102.0 15.3 0.89 278.8 516.6 8,850 0.34 4.1 6.5 1,418 0.53 no 0 0.04 0.51 SPAIN 46.1 32,366.4 9.9 67.3 0.96 420.4 1,265.9 528.9 240.6 15.5 1.33 907.8 602.5 57,243 0.94 30.3 23.7 11,895 1.65 yes - 1.16 1.20 UNITED STATES 312.9 48,240.5 7.9 78.4 2.96 467.6 1,046.9 1,058.0 274.0 55.0 1.54 1,558.4 1,665.1 521,000 1.90 64.9 88.0 194,300 4.15 yes - 2.53 2.48 LATIN AMERICA 556.4 9,689.6 16.4 39.0 1.15 184.1 1,097.5 229.1 87.5 26.9 0.82 461.9 803.4 274,499 0.58 11.3 10.1 43,231 0.86 - 68 0.30 0.80

COUNTRY

POP. (MM)

GDP PER CAPITA (US$)

% POP 25 TO 35 YEARS OLD

% INTERNET USERS

MARKET VOLUME

FIXED PHONE LINES

PER 1,000 INHAB.

0.80

latin america’s e-commerce ecosystem in 2009 was very different from today’s. in only two years almost all e-readiness indicators grew signifi-

cantly in variables that improve objective conditions for

The e-readiness index is based on a model that measures context variables impacting the development of e-commerce.

AméricaEconomía Intelligence, commissioned by Visa, the payment systems company, presents the 2011 version of the e-readiness index, which shows the biannual evolution of Latin America’s e-readiness measured by five main dimensions: market volume, infrastructure, banking system penetration, consumers technology adoption and the strength of local suppliers.

Research shows that Latin American countries have increased their abilities to use the internet as an effective channel to reach final consumers. Trying to understand the evolution of these context variables and the gaps between Latin America and other countries, the e-readiness index considers the United States and Spain as benchmarks. For the first time a Latin American country surpasses one of the benchmark countries. Brazil’s e-readiness (1.24) exceeds Spain’s (1.20). In other words, Brazil’s e-readiness is 3% higher than Spain’s, while it was 5% lower in 2009.

But with 31% biannual growth, Brazil is not the only fast growing country in Latin America. E-readiness in Ecuador (58%), Argentina and Uruguay (49%) are also significant.

These factors drove the regional average up to 0.80, a 30% increase over 2009, when it reached 0.62. This means, that in practical terms, Latin America is better placed than it was two years ago, but is still far from the 2009 benchmark of Spain (1.00) which indicates a mature market.

latin america e-readiness survey 3

Big bangEvolution of e-readiness in Latin America between 2009 and 2011source: AméricAeconomíA intelligence

Market Volume

Technology adoption

Supply strength

Banking penetration

Technological infrastructure

20112009

ARGENTINA 40.9 10,234.6 16.2 67.4 0.84 231.7 1,295.8 310.0 139.4 30.2 0.85 561.7 530.9 14,588 0.45 8.0 21.6 2,695 0.83 no 5 0.14 0.69 BOLIVIA 10.6 2,152.6 14.6 18.7 0.35 79.8 883.8 32.1 9.0 54.2 0.34 26.3 188.2 1,629 0.06 1.0 3.1 146 0.37 no 0 0.04 0.26 BRAZIL 194.9 12,043.7 17.3 43.0 1.84 220.6 1,242.6 308.0 84.6 16.0 1.04 889.0 1,367.6 174,920 1.14 21.1 14.7 25,553 1.35 no 21 0.50 1.24 CHILE 17.4 13,657.6 14.2 42.0 0.57 194.8 1,234.7 429.0 114.4 19.2 0.98 301.8 732.6 8,200 0.58 17.0 14.0 1,490 1.15 yes 8 0.60 0.80 COLOMBIA 46.1 7,061.6 16.0 47.3 0.77 154.8 1,003.2 127.0 106.5 25.6 0.68 208.2 358.5 9,500 0.23 3.7 4.0 998 0.27 no 3 0.11 0.48 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 10.1 5,641.4 15.5 41.0 0.47 74.7 857.3 26.8 37.6 17.9 0.67 186.9 320.5 2,073 0.18 7.7 8.6 698 0.68 no 1 0.00 0.46 ECUADOR 15.0 4,358.1 15.5 32.7 0.47 128.9 1,056.6 153.8 42.3 24.9 0.61 147.5 200.3 3,349 0.14 9.5 5.2 238 0.54 no 0 0.04 0.42 GUATEMALA 14.7 3,179.6 14.3 15.5 0.37 105.5 1,259.9 28.3 17.6 39.6 0.47 149.7 130.2 2,427 0.14 1.3 4.2 258 0.58 yes 1 0.12 0.36 HONDURAS 8.2 2,070.9 15.4 10.9 0.31 74.8 1,202.7 24.8 108.6 31.0 0.57 82.4 183.1 814 0.12 N,D, 2.1 94 0.41 no 1 0.12 0.35 MEXICO 109.7 10,394.8 16.6 29.4 1.17 179.4 861.9 215.0 107.9 24.9 0.71 152.5 764.2 36,448 0.27 7.3 6.5 6,137 0.70 no 23 0.34 0.69 NICARAGUA 5.9 1,201.3 16.4 21.2 0.34 48.1 713.2 73.0 8.1 22.0 0.51 127.8 130.6 629 0.11 0.7 2.1 39 0.22 no 1 0.12 0.30 PANAMA 3.6 8,656.0 15.3 42.4 0.45 151.1 1,614.2 32.7 40.5 11.7 0.94 166.9 587.4 1,185 0.67 2.1 5.6 340 0.45 no 1 0.12 0.61 PERU 30.0 5,936.3 16.2 29.5 0.58 98.3 989.4 154.0 30.4 36.9 0.51 230.2 329.5 5,042 0.23 2.3 5.3 611 0.42 yes 2 0.15 0.42 PUERTO RICO 3.7 23,927.5 15.4 47.0 0.59 222.9 838.5 286.9 147.9 30.0 0.65 368.4 492.5 1,637 0.48 7.6 4.3 1,961 1.20 no 0 0.04 0.63 PARAGUAY 6.5 3,590.0 15.9 25.5 0.38 62.0 882.5 143.1 6.0 17.6 0.58 155.4 152.4 870 0.18 5.9 2.6 128 0.38 no 0 0.04 0.37 EL SALVADOR 5.9 3,832.5 14.7 16.7 0.32 167.0 1,516.8 112.6 29.7 37.0 0.56 128.6 250.5 1,297 0.17 3.4 2.5 154 0.47 no 1 0.12 0.37 URUGUAY 3.4 14,194.5 14.2 55.1 0.53 286.4 1,362.5 189.4 174.3 19.2 0.98 653.4 444.1 1,040 0.66 17.4 11.8 273 0.91 no 0 0.04 0.71 VENEZUELA 29.8 10,537.6 16.1 34.7 0.63 237.9 966.9 195.1 102.0 15.3 0.89 278.8 516.6 8,850 0.34 4.1 6.5 1,418 0.53 no 0 0.04 0.51 SPAIN 46.1 32,366.4 9.9 67.3 0.96 420.4 1,265.9 528.9 240.6 15.5 1.33 907.8 602.5 57,243 0.94 30.3 23.7 11,895 1.65 yes - 1.16 1.20 UNITED STATES 312.9 48,240.5 7.9 78.4 2.96 467.6 1,046.9 1,058.0 274.0 55.0 1.54 1,558.4 1,665.1 521,000 1.90 64.9 88.0 194,300 4.15 yes - 2.53 2.48 LATIN AMERICA 556.4 9,689.6 16.4 39.0 1.15 184.1 1,097.5 229.1 87.5 26.9 0.82 461.9 803.4 274,499 0.58 11.3 10.1 43,231 0.86 - 68 0.30 0.80

MOBILE PHONES PER 1,000 INHAB.

COMPUTERS PER 1,000 INHAB.

BROADBAND CONNECTIONS

PER 1,000 INHAB.

BROADBAND ACCESS PRICE (US$)

TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

CREDIT CARDS

DEBIT CARDS PER 1,000 INHAB.

ATMSBANK PENETRATION

% MOBILE BROADBAND PENETRATION

% OF E-CONSUMERS

INTERNET TRANSACTIONS

TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

ONLINE REVENUE TAX PAYMENT*

LARGE RETAILERS

SUPPLY STRENGTH

E-READINESS 2011

PER 1,000 INHAB.

Note: This table shows the dimensions and the main

data used to construct them, but does not include all the information used in

this survey.

e-commerce. Growth rates were positively affected by Technology

Adoption, a dimension that grew by 0.45 points (113%) between 2009 and 2011. increases in internet buyers, sa-les volumes and mobile broadband penetration drove this sub-index from 0.41 in 2009 to 0.86 in 2011. neverthe-less the gap with benchmark countries increased conside-rably. in the case of the u.s., broadband penetration grew from 14% to 60%, driving the overall index from 2.25 to 4.15, while spain’s index increased moderately from 1.0 to 1.65. the only latin american countries that surpass spain’s benchmark are Brazil (1.35), chile (1.15) and Puer-to rico (1.20). they share the ability to capitalize e-com-merce infrastructure with significant sales increases.

nicaragua (0.22), colombia (0.27), Bolivia (0.37) and Paraguay (0.38) are at the bottom. nicaragua and colom-bia also show the lowest growth in basis points (0.07).

increases in technology adoption can be explained by the rhythm with which technology has entered in latin american lifestyles. latin americans are now more willing

to buy online and quickly adopt new technologies such as mobile broadband. a five-fold increase in broadband con-

*: Only includes public platforms.


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Online censusPercentage of population with internet access, 2006 y 2011source: AméricAeconomíA intelligence

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Paving the internetPercentage of population with broadband access, 2011source: AméricAeconomíA intelligence

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nections, from 13 million in 2009 to 63 million in 2009, is a clear example. 24 million new online buyers, a 75% in-

crease, reflect new products such as coupon aggregators reaching new audiences, which in turn drove average sales

down from 55 dollars to 49 dollars.another high-growth dimension between 2009 and 2011

is IT infrastructure. Fixed and mobile phone lines, Pcs, broadband subscribers, lower internet rates and better logistic systems drove up this sub-index by 0.23 points, a 40% increase from 0.59 in 2009 to 0.82 in 2011. But, once again, the gap between latin america and benchmark countries increased by 21%, in the case of the u.s., and 33% in the case of spain. the only countries that kept up high growth rates were uruguay and Panama, with 41% and 52% respectively reaching sub-indexes of 0.98 and 0.94. along with Brazil (1.04) and chile (0.98) they are the top-performers in terms of infrastructure. Puerto rico (0.01), venezuela (0.01), and el salvador (0.02) practica-lly stalled in this dimension.

in general terms the infrastructure sub-index growth was driven by higher computer and mobile phone pene-tration, and lower internet access pricing. internet users grew 19% reaching 39% of latin america’s total popula-tion. there are, nevertheless, strong differences between countries, 67% of argentinians and 55% of uruguayans are connected, while less than 20% of Guatemalans, sal-vadorians and Bolivians are.

mobile phone penetration in latin america did not


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CybercaféInternet monthly access prices adjusted by purchasing power (US$)source: AméricAeconomíA intelligence

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Credit cardsComputersDebit cardsMobile phones

Hardware and currency for e-commerceNumber of computers, mobile phones, and credit and debit cards in Latin America (in millions).source: AméricAeconomíA intelligence

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

grow significantly because it is already one of the highest in the world, with 1.1 mobile phones per inhabitant. Pc pe-netration grew by 30%; there are now 229 Pcs per 1,000 inhabitants.

all these trends were somehow softened with the addi-tion of logistics to the sub-index, an indicator that was not considered in the previous version of the e-readiness in-

dex. this indicator includes the number of logistic opera-tors, their delivery times, parcel conditions, prices, and re-turns channels.

FERTILE LANDMarket volume as an e-readiness dimension includes de-mographic, macroeconomic and online indicators. the-se are total population and population 25 to 35 years old, GdP per capita and internet users. even though it shows a much lower growth rate than other dimensions (only 3%), it is the highest scoring sub-index for latin america (1.15). it is also closer to spain’s benchmark and more stable, gi-ven population and economic growth factors.

Brazil (1.84) and mexico (1.17) both show outstanding sub-indexes, between the u.s. (2.96) and spain (0.96),

raising latin america’s average. the rest of the region sco-res are significantly lower, with the exception of argentina (0.84) with a 29% increase between 2009 and 2011. With 27 million internet users in a population of 41 million, ar-gentina is latin america’s number one country in connec-tedness.

regarding banking penetration, a dimension that in-

cludes the number of credit and debit cards as well as atms, latin america shows significant gaps with bench-mark countries. With a sub-index of 0.58, it lags behind spain (0.94) and the u.s. (1.90). However, the gap has decreased since 2009, as both spain (1.00) and the u.s. (2.14) lowered their score by 6% and 11% respectively.

this dimension shows moderate growth rates (15%), from 0.51 in 2009 to 0.58 in 2011, basically due to higher credit card penetration. While credit cards increased from 369 to 462 per 1,000 inhabitants, debit cards grew from 695 to 803. chile has the largest population of debit card holders, but its sub-index decreased because methodolo-gical changes that excluded credit cards issued by local re-tailers, which represent 40% of the nation’s total.

every latin american country saw a non-significant


0.50

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SpainUnited StatesLatin America

Takeoff loadEvolution of e-readiness in Latin America, the United States and Spain.source: AméricAeconomíA intelligence

growth in bank penetration. Brazil leads regional growth rates with an 18% increase (0.17 points), followed by chi-le (0.58) and surpassing spain’s sub-index (1.14), which measures only credit cards and atms.

Brazil has 889 credit cards per 1,000 inhabitants, fo-llowed by uruguay with 653, while the regional average is 469, including countries such as Bolivia or Honduras that have less than 100. even though latin america’s credit card indicators show the largest growth rates among other sub-indexes, the gap with the u.s. is still very large.

in terms of local supply strength, an indicator that mea-sures state efforts to allow online tax payments and the strength of local retailers, latin america is still low (0.30). this indicator shows a 38% increase compared with 2009’s 0.22, basically because 7 new countries had figures to be evaluated. But latin america is still way behind the united states (0.53) and spain (1.16). the only countries that show smaller gaps are chile (0.60, with 69% of taxpayers using the state’s online platform), Brazil (0.50) and, to a lesser extent, mexico (0.34). Other countries have an average of 0.08.

this is the region’s weakest point. High investments to develop online taxes, and retailers with strong online pay-ment capacities, are still pending, especially in smaller eco-nomies. However this dimension can improve significantly in incoming years, when the impact of new coupon aggre-gators will be assessed. these have served as support for small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs.

CounTry gAps

BrAzIl: 1.24

latin america’s giant responds to its condition, showing the

highest regional e-readiness in-dex and surpassing spain for the first time in many indicators.

nevertheless Brazil’s high in-dex is based on its vast popula-tion size and economic growth. its proportion of internet users (48%) is lackluster within the market volume dimension and lower than spain (67.3%) and many other latin american coun-tries such as argentina (67.4%), uruguay (55.1%), colombia (47.3%) and Puerto rico (47%).

in terms of infrastructure, Brazil’s monthly broadband access prices adjusted by purchasing power (us$ 16) are lower than the region’s average of us$ 26. But broadband pe-netration is very low: 84.6 connections per 1,000 inhabitants and below the region’s average of 87.6

the addition of the logistic variables in this dimension helped as Brazil enjoys a good network of logistics providers. they offer good parcel conditions, but still have room for im-provement in reverse logistics: exchanges and returns.

ChIle: 0.80

chile shows increases in con-nectivity and internet users

from 33% en 2009 to 42%. it also shows the highest penetra-tion rates for Pcs, with 429 per 1,000 inhabitants and closer to spain’s benchmark (529). chile is also a showcase in government efforts to promote online tran-saction, as its tax-payment pla-tform has promoted technology adoption among the population. 17% of all chileans have mobile broadband, one of the highest percentages in the region after Brazil (21.1%) and uruguay (17.4%).

chile shows some rigidity in its banking sector. credit cards increased but are still low compared to debit cards. the

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ratio between debit cards to credit cards in chile is 2.4, while it is 1.7 for latin america. this hinders cross-border transac-tions that chileans could potentially make.

uruguAy: 0.71

uruguay shares many featu-res with developed coun-

tries regarding e-commerce, specifically in infrastructure and technology adoption. However it lacks a solid supply. it is a ty-pical problem in smaller econo-mies where scale is an obstacle to large investments in online channels. But the public sector has not yet developed an onli-ne tax-payment system. Howe-ver, new alternatives are being set up considering the size of the uruguayan economy and its companies.

ArgenTInA: 0.69

argentina shares several fea-tures with uruguay, but with

the advantage of a larger size. However, it fails in the very same variables than its smaller neigh-bor. it lacks a truly developed online supply, which makes litt-le sense considering the percen-tage of connected argentinians: 67%, the same percentage than spaniards. even more, argentina shows the highest latin ameri-can index of e-consumers (21%).

maybe the answer lies in technology adoption, argenti-na shows an index of 0.83, below Brazil (1.35), chile (1.15), Puerto rico (1.20) and uruguay (0.91), this can be explained in part, by low mobile broadband penetration, only 8% and below the region’s average of 11.3%.

MexICo: 0.69

the sleeping giant has awakened, at least in terms of con-nectivity. Broadband penetration has increased signifi-

cantly (108 connections per 1,000 inhabitants in 2011 vs. 93 in 2009) while the number of base users shows a much

lower growth. credit card num-bers also show strong growth ra-tes while remaining below regio-nal averages.

But the most striking improve-ment in mexico was retail itself. seven million mexicans bought online in 2011 while in 2009 only 4.7 million did. at the same time online sales per capita increased from us$ 557 a year in 2009 to us$ 867 in 2011.

these improvements were driven by local retailers such as liverpool and casa de Hie-rro, that invested in new online channels. they’ve succeeded in reaching the same online sales proportion as chilean retai-lers, which is 200 visitors per us$ 1,000 in sales.

VenezuelA: 0.51

venezuela wants to wake up. Government is promoting

broadband penetration based on very low access monthly pri-ces (us$ 15, latin america’s se-cond lowest after Panama’s us$ 11) and a receptive population. more than 20% of venezuelan internet users are online buyers. and retailers are improving their supply.

venezuela’s main liability is banking penetration. its credit and debit card numbers per 1,000 inhabitants (278.8 and 516.6 respectively) are below the regional averages of 461.9 and 803.4.

ColoMBIA: 0.48

in 2009 colombia was a promi-sing country for e-commerce,

but it underperformed in many dimensions. internet users grew moderately (47.3% in 2011 from 42% in 2009), retailers have been timid (retail strength rated 0.11 in 2011 from just 0.10 in 2009) and colombian banks did

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1,81,61,41,2

10,80,60,40,30,2

0

MexicoLatamSpain

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1,81,61,41,2

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VenezuelaLatamSpain

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1,81,61,41,2

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ColombiaLatamSpain

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Bankingpenetration supply strengthtechnological

infrastructuremarket volume technology adoption

credit cards Online taxpaymentsFixed phones retail strengthtotal population mobile

broadband

debit cardsmobile phones nº of retailersPopulation 25 to 35 years old e-consumers

atmsPersonalcomputers % of online salesGdP per capita Online sales

Broadbandconnections Online presence% of internet

users

e-readiness

Broadband access prices

mobilebroadband prices

diversity of supply

logistics services


MeThodologythis index reflects the conditions of a country for the development of e-commerce. it is based on 23 economic and technological variables selected on their econometric relevance and on the advice of industry and e-commerce experts. this year a logistics sub-index was added to measure the quality of delivery services for goods sold online. data from 2001 to 2011 were used to assess each variable, reaching statistically solid results. to deal with different measuring units, all data were re-scaled using a value of “1.00” for each sub-index result for spain in 2009. so this country and this year serve as a benchmark: a country will have a value above or below 1.00 depending on its results compared to spain’s index for 2009. the sources of information for this survey were: World Bank, eclac, international monetary Fund, cisco, 3G americas, alexa.com, the financial and banking commissions of each country, as well as tax authorities. We thank all the institutions that provided information; industry leaders that collaborated in the construction of this methodology, and visa company, which promoted this survey.

Publisher & editorelías selman carranzaAméricaEconomía IntelligenceJaime contreras s., directorrodrigo dorn, chief researcherdalomy switt, researcherDesign and art directionÁlvaro araya urquizaEditorandrés almeida Farga

disclaimer: the use of this information is the sole and exclusive responsibility of users. visa or américaeconomía do not take responsibility for its use as a benchmark for commerce, legal and regulatory measures or other.

little to broaden their user base. For example, in 2009 the-re were 329 debit cards per 1,000 inhabitants. in 2011 the-re were just 358. and this is colombia’s highest growth indi-cator.

But colombia’s potential resides in demand. e-commerce sales almost doubled in two years from us$ 435 million to us$ 998 million.

peru: 0.42

Peru has basically stalled. it shows low growth in connec-tivity, with just 22,000 new broadband connections in

two years, while the percentage of internet users grew from 27.4% to 29.5%. technology adoption is also unimpressive,

since Peru has the lowest rates of e-consumers (5%) and mobi-le broadband penetration (2.3%) in latin america. Online sales al-most doubled from us$ 276 mi-llion in 2009 to us$ 611 million in 2011, but only because of hig-her per capita sales by the same number of consumers.

the only strong growth varia-ble in Peru is credit card penetra-tion, from 160 to 230 per 1,000 inhabitants.

1,81,61,41,2

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E-readness in Latin America

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Transcript of E-readness in Latin America