A majority of Brazilian (54%) joined the ranks of middle class in eight years

Monday, March 26th 2012 - 08:25 UTC

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However the number of poor rural and living in favelas, still account for 45.2 million, 24% of the population

The number of Brazilians categorized as middle class has risen rapidly in recent years, climbing from 34% of the population in 2004 to 54% in 2011, according to a study released by consumer finance firm Cetelem BGN and the Ipsos research institute.

Just last year, an additional 2.7 million people were added to level C of the Brazilian Association of Market Research Companies’ classification, lifting the number of Brazilians considered middle class to 103 million. According to the latest census the Brazilian population is estimated in 190 million.

That rapid upward social mobility reduced the number of people belonging to low-income sectors (levels D and E) to 45.2 million, or 24% of the population, in 2011. The year before, 47.9 million people, or 25% of the population, fell into those two categories.

Last year, 230,000 Brazilians rose from level C to the highest-income classes (A and B), which now represent 22% of the population.

According to the study, a total of 63.7 million Brazilians have enjoyed upward social mobility since 2005.

The report’s authors say the expansion of the middle class and poverty reduction are due to economic growth and increased job creation, as well as subsidy programs for poor Brazilians that Lula da Silva implemented during his 2003-2011 tenure as president.

Cetelem BGN, a unit of Paris-based banking group BNP Paribas, and Ipsos Public Affairs have jointly prepared an annual report on social mobility in Brazil since 2005.

Categories: Economy, Brazil.

Tags: Brazil.

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Alexei
That's astonishing. I was last in Brazil about 6 years ago. Things must have changed a great deal since then. There seemed to be an awful lot of very poor people about in 2006. I suppose 'middle class' doesn't mean quite the same in South America as it does in the northern hemisphere.
Mar 26th, 2012 - 11:43 am 0
A_Picasso
When I left Brazil in 2001 to live in the UK- I couldn't ever imagined to see one day a headline like that! I go back there from time to time and you could clearly see the differences: people having more disposable income = buying more and/or spending in enterteinment, new business opening (especially in the food service sector). @Alex: you are right - the concept of 'middle class' in BR is very different from the Europe/US.
Mar 26th, 2012 - 02:31 pm 0
Alexei
@2 A_Picasso I was offered a property in Brazil in 2003 it would have cost the equivalent of £50,000. I wish I'd bought it. With the property prices in that region more than doubling, and the £ worth half what it was in 2003, it would now sell for around £250,000. C'est la vie :) Might even move back there one day... If I can afford to :D
Mar 26th, 2012 - 03:45 pm 0

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