Brazil

Key Takeaways

• Strongly diversified economic base, consisting of agriculture, mining, petroleum, manufacturing and service activities;

• New oil finds grant Brazil the potential to develop into the 6th-largest oil producer worldwide by 2035;

• An expanding R&D sector and potential for specialized R&D firms to enter the market;

• A booming urban security market, particularly in the fields of public safety and security, large events (2014 FIFA World Cup, 2016 Summer Olympic Games), mass transportation, airport security, personal and domestic defense, and cyber security. However, this is equally due to a high incidence of urban crime.

• Bureaucratic and inefficient business climate;

• Slower economic growth and lower investment levels compared to other emerging economies;

• High levels of traffic congestion;

• Ethanol market under pressure due to underinvestment; distorted domestic fuel prices as a result of subsidies and government bureaucracy.

POPULATION

In the period 2007-2011, the population of Brazil grew on average by 0.92% per year. This rate of growth is similar to that experienced by European countries such as Belgium and Sweden. Other emerging economies such as Indonesia, India and Turkey grew slightly faster with around 1.2% growth recorded in the same period. Like the aforementioned countries, Brazil has a very high urbanization rate with 87% of its population living in cities. For the period 2010-2015, urbanization is set to continue year-on-year by about 1.1%.

In terms of education, Brazil occupies place 101 out of 187 countries reviewed in the context of the UNDP education index. University schooling in Brazil has long been something available to the privileged few only, with a mere 11% of working age having a degree. Graduates earn on average 2.5 times as much as those without a degree. Until recently those gains went mostly to those who had attended private school. To make matters even more unfair, they often went on studie at public universities for which they had to pay no fee.

Recently however, an explosive growth in private, for-profit universities is opening up higher education to the less privileged. A large and young population, inadequate schools and the growth of industries, such as oil (see also infra, societal challenges and opportunities) that demand skilled workers all mean that the demand for higher education will continue to rise.