Brazil: Country background

Brazil is a country with a large territory - about 8.5 million square kilometers - comprising 26 states, called the Federative Units (UF), and the Federal District. The states, in turn, are divided into municipalities; according to the 2010 Census, there are 5,565 municipalities in Brazil.

The states are divided into five regions: North, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and South. This division is unchanged since 1970, when the Brazil's territorial organization was last modified. The region boundaries coincide with the borders of the states that are part of them.

The North region covers about 45% of Brazilian territory, but has only 7% of the total population of the country. It is formed by the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins.

The Northeast region contains the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, which occupy 18% of the total area of the country.

Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul are part of the Midwest, which occupies 18% of the country. The country's capital, Brasília, Federal District, is also located in this region.

The states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are located in the Southeast region, which occupies about 10% of the Brazilian territory and is home to the largest proportion of the Brazilian population.

The Southern region of Brazil is the smallest, representing about 7% of Brazilian territory. It contains the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

 

Demography

Brazil is the fifth most populous country in the world. According to the census conducted in 2010, the Brazilian population was 190,755,799 with 84.4% living in urban areas and 15.6% in rural areas. The 2010 Census data indicate a population of 93,406,990 men (49%) and 97,348,809 women (51%). In addition, 10.8% of the population is 60 years old and above and 24.1% are under 15.

According to the information released by the IBGE, life expectancy of the population in 2010 was 73.4 years; women's life expectancy was 77.3 years of age and men's 69.7 years of age. As in several countries in the region, both birth rates and death rates have declined in recent decades, reaching, 15.2 and 27.6 per thousand inhabitants, respectively in 2010.

 

Poverty and inequality indicators

Poverty and income inequality indicators are used to measure socio-economic performance of countries. In general, Latin American poverty rates and inequality are high compared to those in developed countries.

According to figures from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Brazil's poverty level in 2009 was 24.9% of the population, representing a decrease of 12.6 percentage points from 2001. It is important to highlight that the level of extreme poverty also declined during this period, from 13.2% in 2001 to 7% in 2009. In this sense, social protection policies implemented in Brazil have contributed to the decline of these indicators, encouraging the development in the country.

While the figures presented indicate that in recent years Brazil has managed to reduce poverty and inequality in income distribution, the results show that the country still faces major challenges in these areas.

 

Labour Market

The IBGE carries out a monthly survey on employment in the metropolitan areas (Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre) to better ascertain the labour market situation in the country.

The results of this survey for December 2011 indicate that the economically active population (EAP) numbers 23,867,000 people, of whom 53.92% are men and 46.08% women. The survey also shows that the employed population represents 95.3% of the EAP, while 4.7% is unemployed.

The labour force participation reached 56.7% of the population of working age (individuals 10 or more years old) in the metropolitan areas. Male labour force participation was of 66%, higher than female labour participation at 48.7%.

 

Social security schemes and programs by branch