Union of South American Nations experience different levels of privations arriving, in extreme cases, to the absolute poverty. However, it is necessary to emphasize that poverty in South America has been reduced in a surprising way, especially in the Southern Cone and North of South America. Today, thanks to the development of many South American nations, it has allowed the world, their eyes on some governments, even forming part of economic blocs like G20 and BRICS. Although this reality is common to the entire South American group, the countries of the so-called Southern Cone (Argentina, southern Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay) present more positive socioeconomic data
Union of South American Nations and Argentina are considered the regional leaders of South America. They are the two largest nations and the two largest economies in South America. These are the only South American countries that are members of the G-20 and Brazil, specially, as member of the BRICS. They're also the largest producers and exporters of agricultural products of the continent. The highest nominal GDP in 2017 is Brazil (8th worldwide) with 2,140,940 trillion dollars, followed by Argentina (21st worldwide) with 628,935 billion dollars, and Colombia (31st at the global level) with 306,439 billion dollars. The highest GDP in 2017 is in Brazil