Brazil – Economy Overview

• Capital: Brasilia
• Area: 8,514,877 km²
• Population: 187,393,918
• GDP (PPP): US$1,837 trillion
• GDP (Nominal): US$1,313 trillion
• Currency: Real
• Time Zone: GMT-2 to -4

Since the Portuguese colonization of Brazil in the 1500s and up until as late as the 1930s, the Brazilian economy had depended mainly on the export of primary products. Currently Brazil is one of the ten largest markets in the world, producing steel, cement, and electrical appliances. Brazil is also abundantly rich is petrolium, producing approximately 70 million cubic meters of petroleum annually, processed into fuels, propane gas, petrochemicals and lubricants.

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However despite these impressive statistics figures, the Brazilian economy is not yet considered developed. Although significant economic reforms implemented since 1947 have succeeded in raising the per capita income, they have failed to induce a significant improvement in Brazil's extremely unequal distribution of wealth, income, and opportunity. At the same time as the country's growth and output have risen, so have the number of people living in poverty. These are mostly concentrated in the rural areas of the Northeast Region, as well as large metropolitan areas.

That said, things have been looking up for Brazil in 2008, with the per capita GDP surpassing the $10,000 mark, and the Real experiencing significant and stable appreciation for the first time this decade.

Industry

Brazil has the second most advanced industrial sector in the Americas, which is responsible for three fifths of Latin America's industrial production. Its highly developed scientific and technological sector has proven to present an attraction to foreign investment which has averaged an annual total of US$30 billion per year in the last few years. This sector includes projects that range from submarine and aircraft technology, to ethanol production, as well as space research. Brazil is the only country in the Southern Hemisphere to take part in the construction of the International Space Station. Brazil's services industry is also quite significant, with the banking sector accounting for as much as 16% of the GDP during the 1990. The financial services industry provides a wide range of products and attracts numerous U.S. financial firms.

Trade

Brazil is a member of several economic organizations, including, G-20, Mercosur, G8+5, SACN, and the Cairns Group. It has a diverse range of trade partnerships that number in the hundreds, its main trade partners being the EEC, Latin America, the United States and Asia. Brazil's main exports are mostly manufactured and semi-manufactured goods.

Agriculture

Brazil's 600,000 km² of land are sectioned into around five thousand areas of agricultural cultivation, an area that is surrounded by the Central-western region, the Northern region and parts of the Northeastern region. Brazil's biggest agricultural product, with a production of over over 110 million tons a year, are grain crops, the soybean being the most widely cultivated grain. It also accounts for 25% of global exports of raw cane and refined sugar, and 80% of the planet’s orange juice.

In the cattle-raising sector, Brazil's “green ox" conquered the global markets particularly after the mad cow disease scare. Today the country has the largest cattle herd in the world, with over 198 million heads of cattle.

Brazil's Agricultural and Cattle-raising Plan guarantees financing for cultivation and equipment, as well as encouraging the use of new technology. Over 800 thousand rural inhabitants are provided with credit, research and extension assistance programs.

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