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Report

Capital Currents: An Overview of Private Investment in Latin America

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Maggie Switek, PhD

Senior Director, Research
Maggie Switek, PhD, is a senior director on the research team at the Milken Institute. She heads all projects related to economic growth and opportunities across regions and communities in the US and abroad.
NJ

Nathan Jefferson

Senior Associate, Research
Nathan Jefferson is a senior associate on the research team at the Milken Institute. In this role, he contributes to the Institute’s research on regional economics and international finance.
An image of a man named Ruben Turok. He has tan white skin, short black hair, a dark beard, and brown eyes. She is slightly smiling at the camera and standing against a dark blue background while wearing a lighter blue suit over a white shirt.

Ruben Turok

Senior Associate, Milken Institute Finance
Ruben Turok is a senior associate on the Research Team at the Milken Institute. In this role, he primarily supports the Institute’s research in health economics, demographics, economic mobility, and capital markets.
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In the past, slow adoption of new technologies accounted for a large share of the divergence in growth between Latin America and advanced economies. Looking ahead, rapid technological advancement will be essential to Latin America’s economic progress, with private capital playing a critical role in financing innovation.

This report offers an in-depth exploration of the private capital dynamics in Latin America, with a special focus on the region’s two largest economies: Brazil and Mexico. Over the past decade, the region has experienced a surge in private capital inflows. Although investment activity declined in 2023 and 2024, our findings suggest that the structural forces underpinning private capital in the region—such as investment in innovation and a growing base of highly qualified workers—remain strong.

Moreover, in recent years, both Brazil and Mexico have made targeted investments to accelerate technological expansion and attract new foreign and domestic capital. Looking forward, Latin American countries will need to address long-standing obstacles—including regulatory complexity, uneven infrastructure, and security concerns—as they seek to draw new investors and capitalize on their growth potential. 

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