in the period analysed chile colombia and honduras grew at rates averaging between and yet the income elasticity of poverty in chile is double that in colombia and four times that in honduras a better understanding of these differences requires analysing the different modalities of growth in the countries concerned or more specifically the way in which economic growth translates into changes in the level and distribution of household incomes between and growth rates of per capita household income were at least one percentage point below per capita gdp growth rates in eight of the region s countries while the opposite was true in five others the first group includes costa rica and uruguay where average household income did not grow but actually fell back despite substantial growth in per capita gdp