Workers in companies of less than six people, or self-employed workers, excluding professionals or technicians, those involved in domestic services and unpaid family members make up this category, the institute noted.

Only 28.9 percent of the country’s inhabitants (17.1 million in total) work in the formal sector, according to INE, based on the results of its latest Employment and Income Survey.

The informal sector is dominated by those over 24 years of age, distributed as follows: 10.7 percent in the metropolitan area, 20.6 percent in the rest of the urban area and 45.4 percent in rural areas.

Within this sector in Guatemala, agricultural activity predominates with 34.2 percent, followed by commerce with 28.2 percent, and the manufacturing industries with 12.9 percent.

Communications registered 0.1 percent and thus stands out as the economic activity with the lowest incidence in the distribution of employed in informality at the national level.

The key is not to fight this phenomenon but to create conditions for companies to generate more employment, according to the coordinator of macro fiscal analysis at the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI), Abelardo Medina.

jg/jav/rgh/znc