6 January 2011) The Statistical yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2010, which features the main economic, social and environmental indicators for the region's countries, is available on the ECLAC website from today.

This annual report is the result of one of the main activities of this regional commission of the United Nations, namely to process, compile, classify and disseminate basic information on the statistics and social, economic and environmental indicators of Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as compiling and disseminating international recommendations on statistical matters.

As in previous editions, the 2010 Statistical yearbook is divided into four chapters:

• Demographic and social aspects, such as population, employment, gender, education and health.
• Economic statistics, such as prices, international trade, balance of payments and national accounts.
• Information on the environment and natural resources, under headings such as biota, water, forests, energy and environmental management.
• Methodological aspects relating to data, sources, definitions and coverage.

Most of the information comes directly from National Statistical Offices, central banks and other official institutions. In some cases, such as the chapter on environmental statistics, data obtained from international sources are also included, as they have the advantage of greater geographical coverage, which facilitates the expansion of time series and improved comparability. It should be borne in mind that there may be discrepancies with the official environmental statistics of countries.

ECLAC invites users of the Statistical yearbook 2010 to review the sources and technical notes contained therein, as this results in better international comparisons.

More statistical information on the region is available on ECLAC's CEPALSTAT website.  This recently created portal includes a series of thematic databases that are periodically updated to cover various aspects (social, national accounts, environment, gender, productive activities, foreign trade and so forth).