The 2019 edition of the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean consists of three parts. Part I outlines the region’s economic performance in 2018 and analyses trends in the early months of 2019, as well as the outlook for the rest of the year. It examines the external and domestic factors that have influenced the region’s economic performance, analyses the characteristics of economic growth, prices and the labour market. It also draws attention to some of the macroeconomic policy challenges, given that there is less space to implement such policies against a backdrop of continuing low economic growth, a high degree of uncertainty and an increasingly complex international scenario. Part II of this edition analyses the changes in the international financial system following the global financial crisis of 2007–2008. The changes observed are in response to, inter alia, the impact this crisis had on the structure and functioning of the global financial system, as well as quantitative easing policies implemented in developed countries to address the effects of the crisis on the financial and real sectors of their economies. Part III of this publication may be accessed on the website of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (http://www.eclac.org/). It contains the notes relating to the economic performance of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2018 and the first half of 2019, together with their respective statistical annexes. The cut-off date for updating the statistical information in this publication was 30 June 2019.