As of April 2024, roughly 49 percent of the population believed that Uruguay's main current problem is related to security. Work related problems were reported as the second-biggest problem in the country, at approximately 12 percent, while two percent of the respondents are worried about health in the Latin American country.

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Bonds and Notes for All Issuers, Residence of Issuer in Uruguay (DISCONTINUED) (IBANRINIUY) from Q1 1991 to Q2 2015 about Uruguay, issues, notes, bonds, residents, and Net.

International debt issues to GDP (%) in Uruguay was reported at 41.65 % in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Uruguay - International debt issues to GDP - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

The Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) is an academic institution hosted by Vanderbilt University that began with the study of democratic values in Costa Rica, but today carries out surveys in much of Latin America, Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. In 2004, LAPOP established the AmericasBarometer as multi-country, regularly conducted survey of democratic values and behaviors in the Americas, and the first round included voting-age respondents from 11 countries. LAPOP collected opinions on major problems facing the country and community, threats to security, attitudes towards the country's political system, and trust in government institutions. Also measured were respondents' participation in community organizations, attitudes towards government critics, voting behavior, confidence in local government, and the prevalence of crime. Demographic information collected includes nationality, ethnicity, native language, age, gender, education level, occupation, religion, and whether the respondent lives in an urban or rural area.

This report focuses on understanding key issues related to poverty, vulnerability and social policy in the context of a changing Uruguayan economy. Because the country is highly urbanized (90 percent), and data on rural areas are scant, most of the analysis in this study focuses on urban areas. Chapter 1 presents a profile of poverty and its trends in the nineties using household survey data. Chapter 2 looks at changes in the structure of the economy and the link with problems of unemployment, underemployment, and labor insecurity over the past decade. Chapter 3 focuses on the specific issues of marginalization and vulnerability based on a qualitative study carried out in poor urban neighborhoods surrounding Montevideo. Chapter 4 analyzes Government social expenditures, with particular emphasis on how effective these expenditures are at reaching the poor and meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. Background papers with detailed analysis are also available under separate cover. Policy recommendations are included in this summary.

Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 274.000 Person in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 301.000 Person for 2015. Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 133.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 301.000 Person in 2015 and a record low of 79.000 Person in 2000. Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Uruguay – Table UY.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

Link to this report's codebookExecutive SummaryThe world is still in the midst of the worst public health crisis in a century. Mobility restriction measures taken to respond to the COVID-19 threat have led to a global economic crisis, with massive job losses and major impacts amounting to a significant setback in the world’s progress towards achieving the SDGs, especially for poor countries and vulnerable population groups. In line with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), all countries need to strengthen the resilience of their health systems and their disease and pandemic prevention programs. Besides greater investments, the crisis has highlighted the need for better measurement and reporting to track disease and pandemic prevention programs, healthcare system preparedness, and resilience to pandemics.This report presents a special edition of the SDG Index and Dashboards, in which Uruguay is benchmarked against OECD countries using a specific set of SDG indicators available for these countries. Due to time lags in data generation and reporting, however, the SDG Index and Dashboards for Uruguay do not reflect the impact of COVID-19. The projection of country trajectories based on recent progress (business-as-usual scenarios) may therefore not provide a realistic sense of the likely future, as COVID-19 is likely to alter trajectories relating to many SDGs. Nevertheless, the Index and Dashboards remain useful for understanding, goal by goal, the progress of Uruguay compared to these other countries. The SDG data and the Six Transformations Framework presented in this report help to identify the key vulnerabilities and challenges that Uruguay was facing before the COVID-19 crisis and provide a useful framework to inform its long-term recovery from COVID-19.Uruguay ranks 30th of the 39 countries covered in this special edition. Its overall score is, however, above the average for OECD countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region and only slightly below the population-weighted average of OECD countries overall. Uruguay performs well and is showing progress on most of the socio-economic goals (SDGs 1–10) although progress is lagging on SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). As with other OECD countries, and particularly the OECD countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region, further effort is needed to meet goals related to sustainable consumption and production, or to climate and biodiversity (SDGs 12 to 15), and to address governance and security issues covered under SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).As part of its commitment to the 2030 Agenda, Uruguay has already submitted four voluntary national reviews to the UN High Level Political Forum: in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Incorporating exhaustive statistical data, these comprehensive reports show Uruguay’s progress on the 17 SDGs and provide detailed information on regulatory frameworks and specific actions contributing to progress towards each goal. The government’s recent submission of the 2021 voluntary national review, which incorporates the results in this report, presents an opportunity to reinforce Uruguay’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda by defining strategies to address remaining challenges and further accelerate progress.Reliable, relevant and timely information is essential to successfully align national strategies to the SDGs: to identify priorities, mobilize resources, measure results and ensure transparency. Uruguay must encourage and advance the strategic use of data and digital technologies towards improving its policies for sustainable development.Achieving the SDGs requires closing the financing gap. The private sector plays a key role in mobilizing resources for sustained economic growth and contributing to social inclusion and environmental protection. The private sector contributes directly to SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and indirectly, through its actions and financing, to the achievement of all 17 SDGs. Uruguay has already started to move in this direction, initiating the country’s first private issuance of green bonds to finance sustainable investment portfolios. Uruguay’s Central Bank has now joined the Network for Greening the Financial System, and the Uruguayan Private Banks Association has established a sustainability committee to accelerate the transition towards sustainable finance in the banking system.

Graph and download economic data for Announced Issues of International Bonds and Notes, Currency of Issue in Uruguayan peso (DISCONTINUED) (IBANUYUAI) from Q4 2003 to Q2 2015 about Uruguay, issues, notes, bonds, and currency.

Abstract

The World Bank Group is interested in gauging the views of clients and partners who are either involved in development in Uruguay or who observe activities related to social and economic development. The World Bank Group Country Opinion Survey will give the World Bank Group’s team that works in Uruguay, greater insight into how the Bank’s work is perceived. This is one tool the World Bank Group uses to assess the views of its stakeholders, and to develop more effective strategies that support development in Uruguay.

The survey was designed to achieve the following objectives: - Assist the World Bank Group in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Uruguay perceive the Bank Group; - Obtain systematic feedback from stakeholders in Uruguay regarding: · Their views regarding the general environment in Uruguay; · Their overall attitudes toward the World Bank Group in Uruguay; · Overall impressions of the World Bank Group’s effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in Uruguay; · Perceptions of the World Bank Group’s future role in Uruguay. - Use data to help inform Uruguay country team’s strategy.

Geographic coverage

Montevideo Departamento

Analysis unit

Stakeholders

Universe

Opinion leaders from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

In May-June 2014, 331 stakeholders of the World Bank Group in Uruguay were invited to provide their opinions on the WBG's work in the country by participating in a country opinion survey. Participants were drawn from the office of the President, Prime Minister; office of a minister; office of a parliamentarian; ministries/ministerial departments; consultants/contractors working on WBG-supported projects/programs; implementation agencies overseeing implementation of a project; local government officials; bilateral and multilateral agencies; private sector organizations; private foundations; the financial sector/private banks; NGOs; community based organizations; the media; independent government institutions; trade unions; faith-based groups; academia/research institutes/think tanks; judiciary branch; and other organizations. A total of 156 stakeholders participated in the survey.

Mode of data collection

Internet [int]

Research instrument

The questionnaire consists of 8 Sections:

A. General Issues Facing Uruguay: Respondents were asked to indicate whether Uruguay is headed in the right direction, what they thought were the top three most important development priorities, which areas would contribute most to reducing poverty, and how "shared prosperity" would be best achieved.

B. Overall Attitudes toward the World Bank Group (WBG): Respondents were asked to rate their familiarity with the WBG and other regional development banks, their effectiveness in Uruguay, WBG staff preparedness to help Uruguay solve its development challenges, WBG's local presence, its capacity building in Uruguay, their agreement with statements regarding the WBG's work, and the extent to which the WBG is an effective development partner. Respondents were asked to indicate the WBG's greatest values and weaknesses and in which sectoral areas the WBG should focus most of its resources.

C. World Bank Group's Effectiveness and Results: Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which the WBG's work helps achieve development results in Uruguay, the extent to which the WBG meets Uruguay's needs for knowledge services and financial instruments, the importance for the WBG to be involved in twenty six development areas, and the WBG's level of effectiveness across these areas, such as education, infrastructure development, public sector governance/reform, and social protection.

D. The World Bank Group's Knowledge Work and Activities: Respondents were asked to indicate how frequently they consult WBG's knowledge work and activities and to rate the effectiveness and quality of the WBG's knowledge work and activities, including how significant of a contribution it makes to development results and its technical quality. Respondents were also asked about the LAC Flagship Report, including whether it raised substantive new information, and whether it provided them with useful information in terms of work they do.

E. Working with the World Bank Group: Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with a series of statements regarding working with the WBG, such as the WBG's "Safeguard Policy" requirements being reasonable, and disbursing funds promptly.

F. The Future Role of the World Bank Group in Uruguay: Respondents were asked to indicate what the WBG should do to make itself of greater value in Uruguay, and which services the Bank should offer more of in the country. They were asked whether WBG has moved to the right direction, and the future role international development cooperation should play in Uruguay.

G. Communication and Information Sharing: Respondents were asked to indicate how they get information about economic and social development issues, how they prefer to receive information from the WBG, and their usage and evaluation of the WBG's websites. Respondents were also asked to rate WBG's responsiveness to information requests, value of its social media channels, and levels of easiness to find information they needed.

H. Background Information: Respondents were asked to indicate their current position, specialization, whether they professionally collaborate with the WBG, their exposure to the WBG in Uruguay, which WBG agencies they work with, and their geographic location.

The questionnaire was prepared in English and Spanish.

Response rate

A total of 156 stakeholders participated in the survey (47% response rate).

Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data was reported at 7.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 27.000 Person for 2016. Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data is updated yearly, averaging 154.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 842.000 Person in 1990 and a record low of 7.000 Person in 2017. Uruguay UY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Uruguay – Table UY.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Debt Securities for All Issuers, All Maturities, Residence of Issuer in Uruguay (IDSAMRINIUY) from Q1 1991 to Q1 2025 about Uruguay, issues, maturity, debt, residents, securities, and Net.

A total of ** of the threatened living species in Uruguay on the IUCN Red List in 2024 were birds. The group was followed by those of the plants and fish, each with ** and ** species under threat respectively. Environment in Latin America as a whole is challenged by problems like air pollution and wildfires.

Uruguay recorded a strong macroeconomic performance in the past years. In 2011, Uruguay saw the ninth consecutive year of economic expansion since its 2002 crisis. This marked one of the longest growth periods in the country's history. Social indicators continue to improve and the unemployment rate is historically low. Fiscal policies have contributed to the strong macroeconomic performance and improvements in social indicators. Continued prudent fiscal policies coupled with the debt restructuring and significantly improved debt management following the 2002 crisis contributed to the macroeconomic stability of the country. Uruguay has therefore successfully addressed a number of challenges faced in the past. There are however a number of policy-driven and exogenous factors that will affect fiscal space over the longer term. In addition to the effect of climate variability on fiscal costs of energy policies, significant changes in the social protection and health sectors are a critical factor to consider in fiscal planning. The combination of an ageing population with recent increases in pension eligibility presents an increasing fiscal challenge. However, Uruguay has been trying to address this emerging problem, while also protecting those who are vulnerable. The most recent social protection reform in 2008-2009 facilitated access to pension benefits for old-age low-income households. In addition in 2007 the parliament approved a comprehensive health reform program to create a more harmonized health care system and to improve equity in access to health services.

Abstract

This research was conducted in Uruguay between June and October 2010 as part of the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Enterprise Survey 2010, an initiative of the World Bank. Data from 607 establishments was analyzed.

The objective of the study is to obtain feedback from enterprises in client countries on the state of the private sector as well as to help in building a panel of enterprise data that will make it possible to track changes in the business environment over time, thus allowing, for example, impact assessments of reforms. Through face-to-face interviews with firms in the manufacturing and services sectors, the survey assesses the constraints to private sector growth and creates statistically significant business environment indicators that are comparable across countries.

The standard Enterprise Survey topics include firm characteristics, gender participation, access to finance, annual sales, costs of inputs/labor, workforce composition, bribery, licensing, infrastructure, trade, crime, competition, capacity utilization, land and permits, taxation, informality, business-government relations, innovation and technology, and performance measures. Over 90% of the questions objectively ascertain characteristics of a country’s business environment. The remaining questions assess the survey respondents’ opinions on what are the obstacles to firm growth and performance.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

The primary sampling unit of the study is the establishment. An establishment is a physical location where business is carried out and where industrial operations take place or services are provided. A firm may be composed of one or more establishments. For example, a brewery may have several bottling plants and several establishments for distribution. For the purposes of this survey an establishment must make its own financial decisions and have its own financial statements separate from those of the firm. An establishment must also have its own management and control over its payroll.

Universe

The whole population, or the universe, covered in the Enterprise Surveys is the non-agricultural economy. It comprises: all manufacturing sectors according to the ISIC Revision 3.1 group classification (group D), construction sector (group F), services sector (groups G and H), and transport, storage, and communications sector (group I). Note that this population definition excludes the following sectors: financial intermediation (group J), real estate and renting activities (group K, except sub-sector 72, IT, which was added to the population under study), and all public or utilities sectors.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The study was conducted using stratified random sampling. Three levels of stratification were used in the sample: firm sector, firm size, and geographic region.

Industry stratification was designed in the way that follows: the universe was stratified into 3 manufacturing industries, 1 service industry -retail -, and 1 residual sector. All sectors had a target of 120 interviews.

Size stratification was defined following the standardized definition for the Enterprise Surveys: small (5 to 19 employees), medium (20 to 99 employees), and large (more than 99 employees). For stratification purposes, the number of employees was defined on the basis of reported permanent full-time workers. This seems to be an appropriate definition of the labor force since seasonal/casual/part-time employment is not a common practice, except in the sectors of construction and agriculture.

Regional stratification was defined in two regions (city and the surrounding business area): Montevideo and Canelones.

For Uruguay, two sample frames were used. The first was supplied by the World Bank and consists of enterprises interviewed in Uruguay 2006. The World Bank required that attempts should be made to re-interview establishments responding to the Uruguay 2006 survey where they were within the selected geographical regions and met eligibility criteria. That sample is referred to as the Panel. The second sample frame was obtained from Registro Permanente de Actividades Económicas. (Permanent Register of Economic Activities) through the Uruguay National Statistics Institute (INE) A copy of that frames was sent to the TNS statistical team in London to select the establishments for interview.

The quality of the frame was assessed at the onset of the project through visits to a random subset of firms and local contractor knowledge. The sample frame was not immune from the typical problems found in establishment surveys: positive rates of non-eligibility, repetition, non-existent units, etc. In addition, the sample frame contains no telephone/fax numbers so the local contractor had to screen the contacts by visiting them. Due to response rate and ineligibility issues, additional sample had to be extracted by the World Bank in order to obtain enough eligible contacts and meet the sample targets.

Given the impact that non-eligible units included in the sample universe may have on the results, adjustments may be needed when computing the appropriate weights for individual observations. The percentage of confirmed non-eligible units as a proportion of the total number of sampled establishments contacted for the survey was 8.83% (119 out of 1347 establishments).

Complete information regarding the sampling methodology, sample frame, weights, response rates, and implementation can be found in "Description of Uruguay Implementation" in "Technical documents" folder.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The current survey instruments are available: - Core Questionnaire + Manufacturing Module - Core Questionnaire + Retail Module - Core Questionnaire - Screener Questionnaire

The "Core Questionnaire" is the heart of the Enterprise Survey and contains the survey questions asked of all firms across the world. There are also two other survey instruments - the "Core Questionnaire + Manufacturing Module" and the "Core Questionnaire + Retail Module." The survey is fielded via three instruments in order to not ask questions that are irrelevant to specific types of firms, e.g. a question that relates to production and nonproduction workers should not be asked of a retail firm. In addition to questions that are asked across countries, all surveys are customized and contain country-specific questions. An example of customization would be including tourism-related questions that are asked in certain countries when tourism is an existing or potential sector of economic growth.

The standard Enterprise Survey topics include firm characteristics, gender participation, access to finance, annual sales, costs of inputs/labor, workforce composition, bribery, licensing, infrastructure, trade, crime, competition, capacity utilization, land and permits, taxation, informality, business-government relations, innovation and technology, and performance measures. The questionnaire also assesses the survey respondents' opinions on what are the obstacles to firm growth and performance.

Cleaning operations

Data entry and quality controls are implemented by the contractor and data is delivered to the World Bank in batches (typically 10%, 50% and 100%). These data deliveries are checked for logical consistency, out of range values, skip patterns, and duplicate entries. Problems are flagged by the World Bank and corrected by the implementing contractor through data checks, callbacks, and revisiting establishments.

Response rate

The number of realized interviews per contacted establishment was 0.30. The estimate is based on the total number of firms contacted including ineligible establishments. This number is the result of two factors: explicit refusals to participate in the survey, as reflected by the rate of rejection (which includes rejections of the screener and the main survey) and the quality of the sample frame, as represented by the presence of ineligible units. The number of rejections per contact was 0.40.

Complete information regarding the sampling methodology, sample frame, weights, response rates, and implementation can be found in "Description of Uruguay Implementation" in "Technical documents" folder.

Uruguay UY: Patent Applications: Residents data was reported at 26.000 Unit in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 37.000 Unit for 2014. Uruguay UY: Patent Applications: Residents data is updated yearly, averaging 39.000 Unit from Dec 1964 (Median) to 2015, with 48 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 246.000 Unit in 1969 and a record low of 18.000 Unit in 1994. Uruguay UY: Patent Applications: Residents data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Uruguay – Table UY.World Bank: Technology. Patent applications are worldwide patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty procedure or with a national patent office for exclusive rights for an invention--a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. A patent provides protection for the invention to the owner of the patent for a limited period, generally 20 years.; ; World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), WIPO Patent Report: Statistics on Worldwide Patent Activity. The International Bureau of WIPO assumes no responsibility with respect to the transformation of these data.; Sum;

Abstract

STEPS is a household-based survey to obtain core data on the established risk factors that determine the major burden of NCDs.

Geographic coverage

National sample from localities with a population of 10,000 or more.

Analysis unit

Individuals

Universe

Adults aged 15-64 years.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Please refer to page 16-19 of report for further information.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Response rate

Response rates: STEP 1 76.8%* STEP 2 89.4% ** STEP 3 54.1% **

*The response rate is calculated on the total of the theoretical sample without considering problems associated with the sample framework (unoccupied, non-existent dwellings, which do not belong to the universe, etc.) **The response rate is calculated on the Total cases made in STEP 1

This study examined the political and economic situation in Uruguay. Issues addressed include main economic problems, foreign debt, the public sector, the crisis in the Dominican Republic, job performance of local and national political leaders, and political preferences. Demographic data gathered include sex, age, economic status, education, and occupation.

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Debt Securities for Issuers in Other Financial Corporations, All Maturities, Residence of Issuer in Uruguay (DISCONTINUED) (IDSOFAMRINIUY) from Q1 1991 to Q4 2009 about Uruguay, issues, finance companies, companies, finance, maturity, financial, debt, residents, securities, and Net.

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Debt Securities for Issuers in Non-Financial Corporations (Corporate Issuers), All Maturities, Residence of Issuer in Uruguay (IDSNFAMRINIUY) from Q4 1996 to Q4 2024 about Uruguay, issues, nonfinancial, maturity, debt, residents, securities, corporate, and Net.

Attitudes of students to political, social and economic questions as well as to problems of education. The role of the elite in the third world.

Topics: The content of this study is identical to that of ZA Study No. 0397.

Demography: age (classified); sex; marital status; position in sibling sequence; religious denomination; school education; vocational training; occupation; employment; head of household; self-assessment of social class.