The world financial crisis will hit all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean but more in Central America and Mexico due to their big dependency on the U.S. economy, an official of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said on Wednesday.

The current world economic situation is one of the gravest in the last decade and very different from the economic crisis in 1929, ECLAC representative in Mexico Jorge Mattar told Xinhua.

Mattar said that the financial crisis which started from the United States has become a global issue as it has spread to many countries across the world.

It is not clear how long the bad situation will last and how far it will reach, he said.

"The crisis will affect less in South American countries such as Chile, Brazil and Argentina" because their foreign trade partners are more diversified, Mattar said.

But for Mexico and the Central American countries, they will suffer bigger loss as the United States is their main commercial partner and the remittances source, he said.

He voiced his worries over the inflation and loss of jobs caused by the crisis, noting the number of poor people will be increased.

In those poorest countries in the region such as Haiti and Nicaragua, their economic and financial systems are more vulnerable, said Mattar.

Established in 1948 and headquartered in Chile's Santiago, ECLAC is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations.

Its purpose is to contribute to the economic development in the region, coordinate actions directed toward this end, reinforce economic ties among countries and with the rest of the world and promote the region's social development.