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SANTIAGO, Chile, CMC – The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has released a new publication that systematically measures the level of preparedness, adoption, and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) in 19 countries of the region.
The third edition of the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA 2025) was produced in collaboration with Chile’s National Centre for Artificial Intelligence.
Based on more than 100 sub-indicators organised into three dimensions, enabling factors; research, development, and adoption, and governance, the report provides a detailed overview of the progress made and the challenges that Latin America and the Caribbean still face in this field.
The results show that the region is accelerating AI adoption, surpassing what might be expected given its digital weight.
According to ECLAC estimates, Latin America and the Caribbean account for 14% of global visits to AI solutions, compared to an 11% share of the world’s internet users. However, this trend is marked by sharp contrasts across countries in the region.
ILIA groups countries into three categories according to their level of maturity: pioneers, adopters, and explorers.
The study highlights significant structural gaps in talent, investment, and governance. In particular, advanced training in AI remains insufficient and is concentrated in a small number of countries. Since 2022, the talent gap relative to the global average has widened, associated with an accelerated brain drain of specialists.
In terms of investment, Latin America and the Caribbean account for 6.6% of global GDP, but receive only 1.12% of global AI investment.
“This severely restricts the region’s ability to scale productive, technological, and innovative initiatives,” according to the report prepared with the support of the European Union–Latin America and Caribbean Digital Alliance (EU–LAC) project and several academic, public, and private organisations.
The report also warns that while a growing number of countries have developed national AI strategies, most lack financing, implementation mechanisms, and impact evaluation systems, reducing the effectiveness of these policies.
Furthermore, environmental and gender equality approaches are largely absent, despite their importance for sustainable and inclusive development. Policies also tend to focus on regulatory aspects rather than consolidating a technological ecosystem to support productivity and well-being.
According to the document, AI adoption in the region is concentrated in a small group of countries and is primarily oriented toward the consumption of ready-made, end-user solutions with low technical requirements.
However, the growing interest in such tools creates an opportunity to democratise innovation and strengthen productivity, since AI can generate significant benefits across economies of different sizes and structures, provided there are favourable environments for innovation and entrepreneurship.
“ILIA 2025 confirms that artificial intelligence can become a driver for overcoming the development traps of Latin America and the Caribbean,” said ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.
“But for this to happen, it is essential to align digitalisation policies with productive development policies, including the digital transformation of priority sectors, in order to close infrastructure, talent, innovation, and governance gaps, while also advancing regional cooperation to ensure an ethical, inclusive, and responsible use of this technology,” he added.
Salazar-Xirinachs said that AI adoption can contribute, among other areas, to the design of new productive strategies; democratising access to education, health, and other public services; expanding social protection; reducing gender gaps; and lowering environmental pollution.
ECLAC said the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index is an essential benchmark to guide evidence-based policymaking and to assess the implementation and progress of such policies, ensuring the development of AI that is geared toward a more productive, inclusive, and sustainable future for the region.
