SANTIAGO – The number of people per household in Latin America will fall by 18 percent by 2020, according to a study released in this capital Tuesday by consulting firm Euromonitor International.

Five Latin American countries – Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico – are on the list of the 10 nations in the world where the household size will fall most between 2008 and 2020, following the trend toward a reduction in family size in developed countries, the report says.

The increase in the number of single-person households, the ever-greater delay in the age when couples decide to begin having children and the reduction in the number of children per family will be the causes of this downward trend in household size in Latin America, the document adds.

Despite the fact that the poor and developing countries continue to have the largest number of people per household, these nations are the ones that are making the most significant reversals in family size.

Colombia, with an average of 3.9 people per household in 2008, is the country that will reduce the size of its families the most, with the figure dropping to 3.2 people by 2020.

Meanwhile, Chile will also show a marked reduction in family size of 9.8 percent, falling from 3.6 people per household in 2008 to 3.3 in 2020. EFE