The Milken Institute 2025 Global Opportunity Index Highlights Improvement in Business Environments of Latin America and Caribbean Countries

Mexico stands out for an overall robust environment, while Brazil made headway in the Financial Services category

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the Milken Institute released its annual Global Opportunity Index (GOI) report, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The LAC region has become a popular destination for foreign capital, attracting almost half of foreign direct investment inflows to emerging and developing (E&D) economies—and over a third of global inflows—in 2023.

The GOI includes five dimensions that help monitor a nation’s efforts in creating sustainable economies in a resilient society by tracking a country’s ability to support a diversified and qualified labor force, environmentally conscious business models, and good corporate governance.

LAC countries perform well compared to other E&D regions in three of the five dimensions of the GOI:

• Future Environment of Growth—All but two LAC countries scored above the E&D average in this category, which measures countries’ potential for resilient and sustainable growth. Costa Rica and Uruguay are the regional leaders in this area, benefiting from vast natural resources and relatively equitable societies.
• Workforce Talent—An expanding, highly skilled labor force is driving economic growth in the LAC region. In the future, LAC countries will need to find new ways to expand their working population as dropping fertility rates start to create labor market pressures.
• Financial Size Conditions—All but two LAC countries outperformed the E&D average in this GOI subcategory, with Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay leading the way, while Guatemala and Paraguay lag slightly behind.

“The Latin America and the Caribbean region has become an attractive destination for investments in recent years,” said Maggie Switek, Ph.D., senior director of research at the Milken Institute and lead author of the report. “Our report provides a comprehensive overview of the key strengths and vulnerabilities of Latin American countries, providing valuable insights to companies pursuing business opportunities in the region.”

As the U.S.’ biggest trade partner and the region’s second-largest economy, Mexico continues to be a key driver of performance in the region. The country benefits from superior performance in the Recovery and Resolution and Economic Openness subcategories of the GOI. FDI inflows to Mexico have also proved to be remarkably resilient, with a relatively large share of inflows targeting the manufacturing sector, signaling increased production throughout the economy.

Brazil is the world’s ninth-largest economy and a major global and regional economic actor. The country leads the region in Financial Services—ranking 29th globally in this category of the GOI—and stands out due to its dynamic innovation economy. As a reflection of its strong financial conditions, Brazil has established itself as the biggest destination for capital, attracting 36.5 percent of all inflows to the LAC region from 2021 to 2023. The country was also home to six of the 10 largest cross-border M&A deals in 2023.

Mexico and Brazil, the LAC region’s two largest economies, along with Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, generated two-thirds of the region's GDP and contributed nearly 15 percent to global production.

The GOI rankings are available on interactive tools that allow users to track the performance of countries using different visual representations, such as ranking tables and heatmaps.

How the Global Opportunity Index Evaluates Countries

To create the index, the Milken Institute evaluates investment opportunities using almost 100 variables organized into five categories and 14 subcategories. The five major categories include Business Perception, Financial Services, International Standards & Policy, Economic Fundamentals, and Institutional Frameworks. The variables within these categories measure all angles of a country’s investment potential, including economic openness and performance, business constraints, and workforce talent and diversity. Data sources include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, and the Bank for International Settlements.

View the full report.

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on accelerating measurable progress on the path to a meaningful life. With a focus on financial, physical, mental, and environmental health, we bring together the best ideas and innovative resourcing to develop blueprints for tackling some of our most critical global issues through the lens of what’s pressing now and what’s coming next.

For more information, visit https://milkeninstitute.org/.