While poverty rates remain high in a significant number of countries, the rate for the region as a whole is the lowest to be attained in the last 20 years. While this was lower than the 4.8% per capita growth rate posted in 2010, it nonetheless consolidates the region-wide recovery from the 3.0% downturn seen in 2009. Argentina (7.9%) and Panama (8.9%) boasted the highest per capita growth rates, followed by Ecuador (6.3%), Pem (5.7%), Uruguay (5.4%) and Chile (5.0%). Per capita output rose less than 2% only in Brazil (1.9%), El Salvador (0.9%), Guatemala (1.4%) and Honduras (1.6%) (see table 1.1). The steady downtrend in this rate seen in every year since 2002 except 2009 has yielded the lowest figures since the mid-1990s, and almost all of the Latin American countries had rates below 8%.