Economy

Imports
$270 billion (2022). Refined Petroleum ($23B), Crude Petroleum ($8.78B), Motor vehicles; parts and accessories (8701 to 8705) ($7.96B), Potassic Fertilizers ($7.59B), and Mixed Mineral or Chemical Fertilizers ($7.44B), importing mostly from China ($64B), United States ($49.4B),  Germany ($13.5B), Argentina ($12.6B), and India ($9.78B).
In 2022, Brazil was the world’s biggest importer of Potassic Fertilizers ($7.59B), Pesticides ($7.06B), Phosphatic Fertilizers ($1.39B), Malt ($715M), and Hydrazine or Hydroxylamine Derivatives ($261M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 83.6% have an account with a financial institution
• 40.4% have a credit card
• 27% have a mobile money account
• 28.1% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Medium, ease of conducting business is rated 59.1 out of 100, ranked 17th out of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries and 124th worldwide out of 190 countries (2022, World Bank).

Exports
$341 billion (2022). Soybeans ($47.2B), Crude Petroleum ($43.1B), Iron Ore ($30.1B), Refined Petroleum ($12.9B), and Corn ($12.4B), exporting mostly to China ($90.1B), United States ($36.6B), Argentina ($15.4B), Netherlands ($11.8B), and Spain ($9.78B).
In 2022, Brazil was the world’s biggest exporter of Soybeans ($47.2B), Raw Sugar ($11.5B), Frozen Bovine Meat ($11B), Poultry Meat ($8.95B), and Coffee ($8.86B).

Main local online stores
Mercado Livre, Americanas.com, Amazon Brazil, Magazine Luiza, Casas Bahia, Submarino, Netshoes, Extra.com.br, Dafiti, Shoptime

Economic freedom
‘Mostly unfree’ (rated 53.2 out of 100) 26th amongst 32 countries in Latin America 133 worldwide out of 186 countries (2024, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 1st out of 19 Latin America and the
Caribbean countries, 49th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Media

Media language
Portuguese

Information channels
Television dominates South America’s biggest media market. There are hundreds of TV networks and thousands of radio stations. Brazilian-made dramas and soaps – known as novelas – are shown around the world. Game shows and reality TV attract huge audiences. Media ownership is highly concentrated. Conglomerates such as Globo, the leading broadcaster, dominate the market and run TV and radio outlets, newspapers and pay TV. Freedom House states that many private media organisations are owned by individuals with political connections, who use the outlets to promote their own interests. The constitution guarantees a free press and there is vigorous media debate about politics and social issues. But Reporters Without Borders says Brazil is one of Latin America’s most violent countries for journalists with a “climate of impunity fuelled by ubiquitous corruption”. Politicians often use restrictive laws to silence journalists or media outlets, says the Committee to Protect Journalists. There is a “digital divide” between regions and between urban and rural areas, says Freedom House. Brazilians are among the world’s top users of social media. Facebook is the leading social platform and WhatsApp is the top communication application. There are no indications of widespread blocking online, but internet freedom is constrained by attacks on bloggers, defamation laws and restrictions on election-related content, says Freedom House.

The press

O Dia – Rio de Janeiro daily
O Correio Brazilense – influential daily
O Globo – Globo-owned Rio de Janeiro daily
Jornal do Brasil – Rio de Janeiro daily
Folha de Sao Paulo – daily
O Estado de Sao Paulo – daily

Television

TV Band – commercial network operated by Grupo Bandeirantes
Rede Globo – market leader, operated by Globo
Sistema Brasileiro de Televisao (SBT) – major commercial network
TV Record – major commercial network
TV Brasil – operated by state-run EBC
Rede TV – commercial network
TV Cultura – public, educational and cultural

Radio

Radio Nacional – FM and medium wave (AM) networks operated by state-run EBC
Globo Radio – commercial networks operated by
Radio Bandeirantes – network operated by Grupo Bandeirantes

News agency

Agencia Brasil – state-owned
Agencia Estado – private, Sao Paulo-based
Agencia Globo – private
UOL – popular portal
G1 – news website, operated by Globo

Internet Data

Internet users
86.6% penetration, 187.9 million

Share of web traffic by device
52.19% mobile phones, 47.09% computers (laptops and desktops), 0.60% tablet devices, others 0.12%

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
47.09  Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
140.46 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 96.9%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 95.9%

Most popular web search engines
Google (96.17%), Bing (2.61%), Yahoo! (0.96%), Yandex (0.11%), DuckduckGo (0.1%), other (0.04%).

Most used social media
Facebook (35.85%), Instagram (24.04%), Pinterest (22.69%), Twitter (9.11), YouTube (7.17%), Tumblr (0.45%), Reddit (0.34%), other (0.34%)

Social statistics

Life expectancy
73 yrs (2021)

Corruption perceptions Index
Brazil scored 38 out of 100, ranked 94 out 180 countries worldwide.

Current health expenditure
10.31% of GDP

CO2 emissions
1.9 metric tons per capita

World Happiness Index
Brazil ranked 38 out of 146 countries, with a score of 6.293.

Current education expenditure
96.3% of total expenditure in public institutions