Economy of Brazil - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The economy of Brazil is the world's seventh largest by nominal GDP

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....

and eighth largest by purchasing power parity

Purchasing power parity

In economics, purchasing power parity is a condition between countries where an amount of money has the same purchasing power in different countries. The prices of the goods between the countries would only reflect the exchange rates...

. Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

has moderately free market

Free market

A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...

s and an inward-oriented economy. Its economy is the largest in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

n nations and the second largest in the western hemisphere.

Brazil is one of the fastest-growing

Economic growth

In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...

major economies in the world with an average annual GDP growth rate of over 5 percent. In Brazilian reais

Brazilian real

The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....

, its GDP was estimated at R$ 3.143 trillion in 2009. The Brazilian economy has been predicted to become one of the five largest economies in the world in the decades to come.

Brazil is a member of diverse economic organizations, such as Mercosul, Unasul, G8+5

G8+5

The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government from the G8 nations , plus the heads of government of the five leading emerging economies .-February 2007 Declaration:On February 16, 2007, The Global Legislators Organisation The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government...

, G20, WTO

World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...

, and the Cairns Group

Cairns Group

The Cairns Group is an interest group of 19 agricultural exporting countries, composed of Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Uruguay.-History...

. Its trade partners number in the hundreds, with 60 percent of export

Export

The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...

s mostly of manufactured or semimanufactured goods. Brazil's main trade partners in 2008 were: Mercosul and Latin America

Latin America

(25.9 percent of trade), EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

(23.4 percent), Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

(18.9 percent), the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

(14.0 percent), and others (17.8 percent).

According to the World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....

, Brazil was the top country in upward evolution of competitiveness

Competitiveness

Competitiveness is a comparative concept of the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and/or services in a given market...

in 2009, gaining eight positions among other countries, overcoming Russia for the first time, and partially closing the competitiveness gap with India and China among the BRIC

BRIC

In economics, BRIC is a grouping acronym that refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development...

economies. Important steps taken since the 1990s toward fiscal sustainability, as well as measures taken to liberalize and open the economy, have significantly boosted the country’s competitiveness fundamentals, providing a better environment for private-sector development.

The owner of a sophisticated technological sector, Brazil develops projects that range from submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s to aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

and is involved in space research: the country possesses a satellite launching center and was the only country in the Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

to integrate the team responsible for the construction of the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

(ISS). It is also a pioneer in many fields, including ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

production.

Brazil, together with Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, has been at the forefront of the Latin American multinationals

Multinational corporation

A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...

phenomenon by which, thanks to superior technology and organization, local companies have successfully turned global. These multinationals have made this transition notably by investing massively abroad, in the region and beyond, and thus realizing an increasing portion of their revenues internationally.

Brazil is also a pioneer in the fields of deep water oil research from where 73 percent of its reserves are extracted. According to government statistics, Brazil was the first capitalist country to bring together the ten largest car assembly companies inside its national territory.

The annual Brasil Investment Summit takes place in São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

and is the largest gathering in Brazil of international investment experts covering opportunities in alternative vehicles, infrastructure, and advanced trading strategies.

With still high levels of inequality

Inequality

In mathematics, an inequality is a statement how the relative size or order of two objects, or about whether they are the same or not .*The notation a b means that a is greater than b....

, though it has diminished in the last years, the Brazilian economy has become one of the major economies of the world. According to Forbes

Forbes

Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

2011, Brazil has the 8th largest number of billionaires in the world, a number much larger than what is found in other Latin American countries, and ahead of even Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

History

When the Portuguese

Kingdom of Portugal

The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...

explorers arrived in the 15th century, the native tribes of current-day Brazil, totaling about 2.5 million people, had lived virtually unchanged since the Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

. From Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

's colonisation of Brazil

Brazil

(1500-1822) until the late 1930s, the market elements of the Brazilian economy relied on the production of primary products for export

Export

s. Within the Portuguese Empire

Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

, Brazil was a colony subjected to an imperial mercantile policy, which had three main large-scale economic production cycles - sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

, gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

and, from the early 19th century on, coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

. The economy of Brazil was heavily dependent on African enslaved labour until the late 19th century (about 3 million imported African enslaved individuals in total). Since then, Brazil experienced a period of strong economic and demographic growth accompanied by mass immigration from Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

(mainly from Portugal

Portugal

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

) until the 1930s. In the Americas, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Canada (in descending order) were the countries that received most immigrants. In Brazil's case, statistics show that 4.5 million people emigrated to the country between 1882 and 1934.

Currently, with a population of 190 million and abundant natural resources

Natural Resources

Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...

, Brazil is one of the ten largest markets in the world, producing tens of millions of tons of steel, 26 million tons of cement, 3.5 million television sets, and 3 million refrigerators. In addition, about 70 million cubic meters of petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

were being processed annually into fuels, lubricants, propane gas, and a wide range of hundred petrochemicals. Furthermore, Brazil has at least 161,500 kilometers of paved roads and more than 93 Gigawatts of installed electric power capacity.

Its real per capita GDP has surpassed US$

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

10,500 in 2008, due to the strong and continued appreciation of the real

Brazilian real

The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....

for the first time this decade. Its industrial sector accounts for three fifths of the Latin America

Latin America

n economy's industrial production. The country’s scientific and technological

Brazilian science and technology

Brazilian science and technology have achieved a significant position in the international arena in the last decades. The central agency for science and technology in Brazil is the Ministry of Science and Technology, which includes the CNPq and Finep...

development is argued to be attractive to foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...

, which has averaged US$ 30 billion per year the last years, compared to only US$ 2 billion per year last decade, thus showing a remarkable growth. The agricultural sector, locally called the agronegócio (agrobusiness), has also been remarkably dynamic: for two decades this sector has kept Brazil amongst the most highly productive countries in areas related to the rural sector. The agricultural sector and the mining sector also supported trade surpluses which allowed for massive currency gains (rebound) and external debt paydown. Due to downturn in Western economies Brazil found itself in 2010 trying to halt the appreciation of the real.

Components of the economy

The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 66.8 percent, followed by the industrial sector at 29.7 percent (2007 est.). Agriculture represents 3.5 percent of GDP (2008 est.). Brazilian labor force is estimated at 100.77 million of which 10 percent is occupied in agriculture, 19 percent in the industry sector and 71 percent in the service sector.

Agriculture and food production

Agriculture production

Combine harvester Combine harvester The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,... on a plantation Plantation A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
Main products	Coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus, beef
Agriculture growth rate	9.2% (2008)
Labor force	15% of total labor force
GDP of sector	3.5% of total GDP

A performance that puts agribusiness in a position of distinction in terms of Brazil’s

Brazil

trade balance, in spite of trade barriers and subsidizing policies adopted by the developed countries.

In the space of fifty five years (1950 to 2005), the population of Brazil grew from 51 million to approximately 187 million inhabitants, an increase of over 2 percent per year. In order to meet this demand, it was necessary to take the development of cattle and crop raising activities a step further. Since then, an authentic green revolution has taken place, allowing the country to create and expand a complex agribusiness

Agribusiness

In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....

sector. However, some of this is at the expense of the environment, including the Amazon

Amazon Basin

The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...

.

The importance given to the rural producer takes place in the shape of the agricultural and cattle-raising plan and through another specific program geared towards family agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

(Pronaf), which guarantee financing for equipment and cultivation and encourage the use of new technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

, as shown by the use of agricultural land zoning. With regards to family agriculture, over 800 thousand rural inhabitants are assisted by credit, research and extension programs. The special line of credit for women and young farmers is an innovation worth mentioning, providing an incentive towards the entrepreneurial spirit.

With The Land Reform Program, on the other hand, the country's objective is to provide suitable living and working conditions for over one million families who live in areas allotted by the State, an initiative capable of generating two million job

Employment

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...

s. Through partnerships, public policies and international partnerships, the government is working towards the guarantee of an infrastructure for the settlements, following the examples of schools and health outlets. The idea is that access to land represents just the first step towards the implementation of a quality land reform program.

Over 600,000 km² of land are divided into approximately five thousand areas of rural property

Property

Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...

; an agricultural area currently with three borders: the Central-western region (savanna), the Northern region

North Region, Brazil

The North Region of Brazil is the largest Region of Brazil, corresponding to 45.27% of the national territory. It is the least inhabited of the country, and contributes with a minor percentage in the national GDP and population...

(area of transition) and parts of the Northeastern region

Northeast Region, Brazil

The Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....

(semi-arid). At the forefront of grain crops, which produce over 110 million tonnes/year, is the soybean, yielding 50 million tonnes.

In the bovine cattle-raising sector, the "green ox," which is raised in pastures, on a diet

Diet (nutrition)

In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...

of hay and mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

salts, conquered markets in Asia

Asia

, Europe

Europe

and the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

, particularly after the "mad cow disease" scare period. Brazil has the largest cattle herd in the world, with 198 million heads, responsible for exports surpassing the mark of US$ 1 billion/year.

A pioneer and leader in the manufacture of short-fiber timber cellulose

Cellulose

Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....

, Brazil has also achieved positive results within the packaging sector, in which it is the fifth largest world producer. In the foreign markets, it answers for 25 percent of global exports of raw cane and refined sugar; it is the world leader in soybean exports and is responsible for 80 percent of the planet's orange juice, and since 2003, has had the highest sales figures for beef and chicken, among the countries that deal in this sector.

Industry

Industrial production

}
}}
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"| Main industries
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| Automobile industry, petrochemicals, machinery, electronics, cement and construction, aircraft, textiles, food and beverages, mining, consumer durables, tourism
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Industrial growth rate
|valign="top"| 8.8% (2008 est.)
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|Labor force
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 21% of total labor force
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|GDP of sector
|valign="top"| 29.7% of total GDP
|-
| align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="2"|
|}

Brazil

Brazil

has the second biggest industrial sector in the Americas

Americas

. Accounting for 28.5 percent of GDP, Brazil's diverse industries range from automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s, steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

and petrochemical

Petrochemical

Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane....

s to computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

s, aircraft

Aircraft

, and consumer durables. With increased economic stability provided by the Plano Real

Plano Real

The Plano Real was a set of measures taken to stabilize the Brazilian economy in early 1994, under the direction of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as the Minister of Finance, during the presidency of Itamar Franco....

, Brazilian and multinational businesses have invested heavily in new equipment and technology, a large proportion of which has been purchased from U.S. firms.

Brazil has a diverse and relatively sophisticated services industry as well. During the early 1990s, the banking sector accounted for as much as 16 percent of the GDP. Although undergoing a major overhaul, Brazil's financial services industry provides local businesses with a wide range of products and is attracting numerous new entrants, including U.S. financial firms. On May 8, 2008, the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) and the São Paulo-based Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange (BM&F) merged, creating BM&FBOVESPA, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. Also, the previously monopolistic reinsurance sector is being opened up to third party companies.

31 December 2007, there were an estimated 21,304,000 broadband lines in Brazil. Over 75 percent of the broadband lines were via DSL and 10 percent via cable modems.

Proven mineral resources are extensive. Large iron and manganese reserves are important sources of industrial raw materials and export earnings. Deposits of nickel, tin, chromite, uranium, bauxite, beryllium, copper, lead, tungsten, zinc, gold, and other minerals are exploited. High-quality cooking-grade coal required in the steel industry is in short supply.

Largest companies

In 2011, 36 Brazilian companies were listed in the Forbes Global 2000

Forbes Global 2000

The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics: sales, profit, assets and market value...

list - an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The 13 leading companies were:

World Rank	Company	Industry	Revenue (billion $)	Profits (billion $)	Assets (billion $)	Market Value (billion $)	Headquarters
4	Petrobras Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...	Oil & Gas Operations	138.80	21.26	313.25	238.80	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
20	Vale	Mining	46.54	18.12	132.86	184.96	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
51	Itaú Unibanco	Banking	71.47	8.37	507.84	115.08	São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
64	Ambev AmBev Ambev formally Companhia de Bebidas das Américas is a subsidiary of global brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev and is the biggest brewery in South America and the fifth in the world...	Beverage	15.90	4.75	54.92	86.45	São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
80	Banco Bradesco Banco Bradesco Bradesco is one of the Big Four banks in Brazil, the others being Banco do Brasil, Itaú Unibanco and CEF. Bradesco was the largest private bank in Brazil until Banco Itaú and Unibanco merged in 2009. Bradesco is headquartered in Osasco, has 3,945 branches and 38,772 Automatic Teller Machines...	Banking	52.43	6.37	445.19	74.32	Osasco Osasco Osasco is a municipality and city in São Paulo State, Brazil, is located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. The current mayor is Emidio Pereira de Souza .... , SP São Paulo (state) São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
101	Banco do Brasil Banco do Brasil Banco do Brasil S.A. is the largest Brazilian and Latin American bank by assets, and the third by market value. The bank, headquartered in Brasília, was founded in 1808 and is the oldest active bank in Brazil — and one of the oldest financial institutions in the world.Banco do Brasil is controlled...	Banking	48.97	7.00	546.91	54.89	Brasilia Brasília Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
203	OGX	Oil & Gas Operations	14.54	5.51	6.74	39.23	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
235	Itaúsa Itaúsa Itaúsa is a Brazilian conglomerate company which controls several companies active in areas such as the financial and real estate sectors; industries including wood panels, pottery and metal; health; chemicals; and electronics...	Conglomerates	66.44	2.33	342.60	36.08	São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
342	CSN Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional is the second major steel-maker company in Brazil. Its main plant is located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro...	Steel & Cement	9.34	1.94	16.88	30.47	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
398	Gerdau Gerdau Gerdau is the largest producer of long steel in America, with steel mills in Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Peru, Spain, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. It also holds 40% stake in the Spanish company Sidenor and has a joint...	Iron & Steel	23.40	1.49	27.66	23.18	Porto Alegre Porto Alegre Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
487	Eletrobras Eletrobrás Eletrobras is a major Brazilian power utility. It's also Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth largest in the world and is also the fourth largest clean energy company in the world. It is currently expanding its operations in the continent, as well as in Africa. The company's full...	Utilities	16.40	1.32	78.45	21.22	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
547	Usiminas Usiminas Usiminas is a large producer of steel in the Americas, with major steel mills in Brazil with a total capacity of 9.5 million metric tons of steel per year. The company accounts for 28 % of total steel output in Brazil. Usiminas has an installed capacity of producing 9.5 million tons of crude...	Mining & Siderurgy	7.95	1.02	18.95	19.33	Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
640	Embraer Embraer Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services....	Aerospace & Defense	6.14	1.03	15.69	17.56	São José dos Campos São José dos Campos São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ... , SP São Paulo (state) São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...

Energy

The Brazilian government has undertaken an ambitious program to reduce dependence on imported oil

Petroleum

. Imports previously accounted for more than 70 percent of the country's oil needs but Brazil became self-sufficient in oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

in 2006. Brazil is one of the world's leading producers of hydroelectric power, with a current capacity of about 260,000 megawatts. Existing hydroelectric power provides 90 percent of the nation's electricity. Two large hydroelectric projects, the 19,900 megawatt Itaipu Dam on the Paraná River

Paraná River

The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...

(the world's largest dam) and the Tucurui Dam in Pará

Pará

Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...

in northern Brazil

North Region, Brazil

, are in operation. Brazil's first commercial nuclear reactor

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

, Angra I, located near Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, has been in operation for more than 10 years. Angra II was completed in 2002 and is in operation too. An Angra III has its planned inauguration scheduled for 2014. The three reactors would have combined capacity of 9,000 megawatts when completed. The government also plans to build 19 more nuclear plants by the year 2020.

Economic status

Statistical Table

}
}}
|-
!align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="2"|Inflation (IPCA)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|2002
|valign="top"| 12.53%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|2003
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 9.30%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|2004
|valign="top"|7.60%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|2005
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 5.69%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|2006
|valign="top"| 3.14%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|2007
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 4.46%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|2008
|valign="top"| 5.91%
|-
!align="center" valign="top" colspan="2"|Source:
|-
!align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="2"|Gross Fixed Capital Formation (% of GDP)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|2001
|valign="top"| 19.47%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|2002
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 18.32%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|2003
|valign="top"|17.78%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|2004
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 19.58%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|2005
|valign="top"| 19.99%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="center" valign="top" colspan="2"|Source:
|-
!align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="2"|Average GDP growth rate 1950-2008
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|1950-59
|valign="top"| 7.1%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|1960-69
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 6.1%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|1970-79
|valign="top"| 8.9%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|1980-89
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 3.0%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|1990-99
|valign="top"| 1.7%
|-
! style="background:#f0f0f0;" align="left" valign="top"|2000-08
| style="background:#f0f0f0;" valign="top"| 3.7%
|-
!align="center" valign="top" colspan="2"|Source:
|-
|}

Sustainable growth

After the arrival of the Portuguese explorers in 1500, it was only in 1808 that Brazil

Brazil

obtained a permit from the Portuguese colonial government

Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

to set up its first factories and manufacturers. In the 21st century, Brazil reached the status of 8th largest economy in the world. Originally, the export list was basic raw and primary goods, such as sugar, rubber and gold. Today, 84 percent of exports consists of manufactured and semi-manufactured products.

The period of great economic transformation and growth occurred between 1875 and 1975.

In the last decade

Decade

A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....

, domestic production increased by 32.3 percent and agribusiness

Agribusiness

(agriculture and cattle-raising), which grew by 47 percent or 3.6 percent per year, was the most dynamic sector – even after having weathered international crises that demanded constant adjustments to the Brazilian economy. The Brazilian government also launched a program for economic development acceleration called Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento

Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento

Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento is a major investment plan of the Government of Brazil. The plan was announced in 2007 by President Lula....

, aiming to spur growth.

Brazil's transparency ranking status in the international world is 75th according to Transparency International

Transparency International

Transparency International is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide...

Control and reform

Among measures recently adopted in order to balance

Balance (accounting)

In banking and accountancy, the outstanding balance is the amount of money owed, , that remains in a deposit account at a given date, after all past remittances, payments and withdrawal have been accounted for. It can be positive or negative ....

the economy, Brazil carried out reforms to its Social security

Social security

Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...

(state and retirement pensions) and Tax systems. These changes brought with them a noteworthy addition: a Law of Fiscal Responsibility which controls public expenditure by the Executive Branches at federal

Federal republic

A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain the federation...

, state and municipal levels. At the same time, investments were made towards administration efficiency and policies were created to encourage export

Export

s, industry

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

and trade

Trade

Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...

, thus creating "windows of opportunity" for local and international investors and producers.

With these alterations in place, Brazil has reduced its vulnerability: it doesn't import the oil it consumes; it has halved its domestic debt

Debt

A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...

through exchange rate-linked certificates and has seen exports grow, on average, by 20% a year. The exchange rate does not put pressure on the industrial sector or inflation

Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...

(at 4% a year), and does away with the possibility of a liquidity crisis

Liquidity crisis

In financial economics, liquidity is a catch-all term that may refer to several different yet closely related concepts. Among other things, it may refer to Asset Market liquidity In financial economics, liquidity is a catch-all term that may refer to several different yet closely related...

. As a result, the country, after 12 years, has achieved a positive balance in the accounts which measure exports/imports, plus interest payments, services and overseas payment. Thus, respected economists say that the country won't be deeply affected by the current world economic crisis.

Consistent policies

Support for the productive sector has been simplified at all levels; active and independent, Congress

National Congress of Brazil

The National Congress of Brazil is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government.Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies .The Senate represents the 26 states and...

and the Judiciary Branch carry out the evaluation of rules and regulations. Among the main measures taken to stimulate the economy are the reduction of up to 30 percent on Manufactured Products Tax (IPI), and the investment of $8 billion on road cargo transportation fleets, thus improving distribution logistics. Further resources guarantee the propagation of business and information telecenters.

The Policy for Industry

Industry

, Technology

Technology

and Foreign Trade, at the forefront of this sector, for its part, invests $19.5 billion in specific sectors, following the example of the software and semiconductor, pharmaceutical and medicine product, and capital goods sectors.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Between 1993 and 2010, 7.012 mergers & acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...

with a total known value of $707 billion USD with the involvement of Brazilian firms have been announced. The year 2010 was a new record in terms of value with $115 bn. of transactions. The largest transaction with involvement of Brazilian companies has been: Cia Vale do Rio Doce acquired Inco in a tender offer valued at $18.9 billions.

Income in Brazil

The minimum wage

Minimum wage

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...

set for the year of 2011 is R$7,080.00 or R$545 per month plus an additional 13th salary in second half of December. The GDP per capita in 2008 was $10,465.

Career		Overall Median	Start Median	Top Median
Judge	Law	170,000	150,500	310,500
Prosecutor	Law	150,000	140,000	270,000
General director	Administration	90,000	60,000	1,450,000
Physician	Medicine	85,000	40,000	1,550,000
Judicial analyst	Law	80,000	70,000	90,000
Police chief	Law	60,000	50,000	85,000
Electronic engineer	Engineering	51,000	33,600	360,000
Civil engineer	Engineering	50,400	22,800	360,000
Other engineers	Engineering	45,000	24,000	130,000
Economic researcher	Economy	44,000	24,000	180,000
Mechanical engineer	Engineering	42,600	26,200	105,000
Department Supervisor	Administration	41,964	20,076	420,000
Taxation Officer	Government	41,520	26,400	240,000
Professors	Higher education	40,440	20,000	300,000
Agronomist	Agronomy	40,000	27,600	96,000
Chemical engineer	Engineering	40,000	31,200	420,000
Systems analyst	Computer science	38,400	30,000	180,000
Dentist	Dentistry	37,800	29,400	720,000
Architect	Architecture	37,320	13,800	600,000
Lawyer	Law	36,120	20,040	3,000,000
Accountant	Accountancy	35,880	17,400	216,000
Administrator	Administration	35,400	25,080	1,800,000
Journalist	Journalism	32,880	18,000	2,400,000

External links

São Paulo Stock Exchange Official website
Central Bank of Brazil Official website
"The Informality Trap: Tax Evasion, Finance, and Productivity in Brazil" World Bank Public Policy Journal
Macroeconomic Policy, Growth and Income Distribution in the Brazilian Economy in the 2000s Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for Economic and Policy Research
The Center for Economic and Policy Research is a progressive economic policy think-tank based in Washington, DC, founded in 1999. CEPR works on Social Security, the US housing bubble, developing country economies , and gaps in the social policy fabric of the US economy.According to its own...

History

Components of the economy

Agriculture and food production

Industry

Largest companies

Energy

Economic status

Sustainable growth

Control and reform

Consistent policies

Mergers & Acquisitions

Income in Brazil

External links

Further reading