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Brazil

Poverty headcount ratio at $6.85/day 2017 PPP

24%
Population below international poverty line

Equivalent to 1,412 Brazilian Reais per worker per month.
WageIndicator Foundation, 2024

263
per month
National minimum wage

Equivalent to 2,621 Brazilian reais per worker per month.
Global Living Wage Coalition, 2024

488
per month
Rural living wage
World bank, 2022
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
9%
Agricultural workforce
World bank, 2022
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
7%
Agriculture share of GDP

ITUC Global Rights Index, 2024
Systematic violation of rights

4
high
Risk to workers' rights

Context

The population of Brazil is around 215 million people.[1] The country is highly urbanised with 88% of its population living in cities[2] and only 12% in rural areas.[3] Agriculture accounts for 7% of Brazil’s GDP[4] and it is estimated that 9% of the population is employed in this sector.[5]

Since the 1970s, the number of large-scale, commercial farms has continued to increase, and smallholders are estimated to account for 20% of all farmers in Brazil. Nearly 45% of Brazil’s agricultural land is held by the largest 1% of Brazil’s farms; a reflection of the structural problem of land distribution in Brazil.[6] Farms belonging to families are characterised by low economic dynamism and a high incidence of poverty, and droughts and heatwaves caused by climate change also affect food security[7]

The top grown agricultural commodities in Brazil are sugar cane, soybeans, maize, fresh milk and cassava.[8] Brazil’s top export commodities in terms of quantity commodities are soybeans, maize, raw sugar, and soybeans cake.[9]

Footnotes
  1. ^ World Bank (2022). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=BR
  2. ^ World Bank (2022). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=BR
  3. ^ World Bank (2022). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?locations=BR
  4. ^ World Bank. (2022). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?locations=BR
  5. ^ World Bank. (2022). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS?locations=BR
  6. ^ FAO. (2015). The economic lives of smallholder farmers. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5251e.pdf
  7. ^ IFAD. Country Profiles: Brazil. https://www.ifad.org/en/web/operations/w/country/brazil 
  8. ^ FAOSTAT. (2022). http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/commodities_by_country
  9. ^ FAOSTAT. (2022). http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/commodities_by_country_exports

Wages

Minimum wage

In Brazil there is a government mandated minimum wage. As of January 2024, the general minimum wage for Brazil is 1,412 Brazilian Reais  (263 EUR) per month.[1]Employers who fail to comply with the national minimum wage are subject to punishment by the government, however, thus far such penalties have not been proven to be successful in ensuring employer compliance. Adittionally, media reports say that unsafe working conditions are prevalent throughout the country. [2]

Living wage

The Global Living Wage Coalition has developed 2 Living Wage Benchmarks based on the Anker methodology, one for Minas Gerais, rural Brazil and one for São Paulo State, non-metropolitan Brazil.

The Global Living Wage Coalition has estimated the living wage for Minas Gerais South/Southwestern Region of rural Brazil to be 2,621 Brazilian Reals per month (488 EUR). This number is based on a family of 4 with 1.71 workers.[3] The living wage benchmark provides context in the rural coffee growing regions of Southern Brazil. The Minas Gerais Southern and Southwestern mesoregion is the world leader in coffee production and is responsible for 24% of Brazil’s coffee production, most of which is exported.[4] Accordingly, the living wage report uses prevailing wages in the coffee sector for comparison with the estimated living wage.

The Global Living Wage Coalition has developed a living wage benchmark for the non-metropolitan areas of São Paulo State in Brazil. The estimated living wage, to afford a basic but decent standard of living for a family of 4 with 1.68 workers, is 3,213 Brazilian reais (599 EUR) per month[5]The living wage benchmark focusses on the citrus belt region, but is applicable to all workers living in the non-metropolitan urban areas of the State of São Paulo. The State of São Paulo is one of the main economic hubs of the country, concentrating 33% of the national GDP. It is responsible for 75% of orange production in Brazil and approximately 60% of the world exports of orange juice.
 

Living income

Besides the living income estimates included in the above mentioned studies, the Global Living Wage Coalition has also developed Living Income Benchmarks for Brazil based on the Anker methodology, focusing on cocoa in coffee growing regions.
 
Published as working papers, the studies looked into six cocoa growing areas in Brazil: South Bahia; East Rondonia; Southwest Pará; Southeast Pará; North Coast Espirito Santo and Belém metropolitan area; and also for three coffee growing areas in Brazil: Northwest Espírito Santo; Zona da Mata mineira, and Triângulo Mineiro/Alto Paranaíba. The estimated living income value for a family of 4 persons per month in cocoa growing regions ranged from 2.669 Brazilian reais (482 EUR) in South Bahia, to 3,496 Brazilian reais (631 EUR)  in Belém and the metropolitan area.[6] In the coffee regions, the estimated living income were between 3,283 Brazilian reais (593 EUR) per month in Northwest Espirito Santo, and 3,920 Brazilian reais (708 EUR) in the region of Triângulo Mineiro/ Alto Paranaíba[7]
 
Footnotes
  1. ^ WageIndicator Foundation. (2023). https://wageindicator.org/salary/minimum-wage/brazil/23075-general-minimum-wage
  2. ^ U.S. Department of State. (2023). https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/brazil/
  3. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition. (2023).https://www.globallivingwage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Updatereport_Brazil_Southern-Minas-Gerais_July2021-Final.pdf
  4. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition. (2023). https://www.globallivingwage.org/living-wage-benchmarks/urban-brazil/
  5. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition (2023). Updated Living Wage Report-Non-Metropolitan Brazil: State of São Paulo. https://www.globallivingwage.org/living-wage-benchmarks/living-wage-for-non-metropolitan-brazil/
  6. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition. (2023). https://www.globallivingwage.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Living-Income-Estimates-for-Cocoa-Brazil_v3.1.pdf
  7. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition (2022) https://www.globallivingwage.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Living-Income-Estimates-for-Coffee-Brazil_72228.pdf 

What's happening

resource

Updated Living Wage Benchmark, Non-Metropolitan Brazil

Updated living wage estimate for the State of São Paulo, Brazil focussing on orange production in the citrus belt. Global Living Wage Coalition.

resource

Updated Living Wage Benchmark, rural Brazil

Updated living wage estimate for Minas Gerais South/Southwestern Region of Brazil focussing on coffee production. Global Living Wage Coalition.

resource

Living Income Benchmark, Brazilian coffee

Living income estimate for cocoa growing regions in Brazil, 2021. Global Living Wage Coalition, 2021. 

resource

Living Income Benchmark, Brazilian cocoa

Living income estimate for cocoa growing regions in Brazil, 2021. Global Living Wage Coalition, 2021. 

resource

Living Wage Benchmark, rural Brazil

Living wage estimate for Minas Gerais South/Southwestern Region of Brazil focussing on coffee production. Global Living Wage Coalition, 2019.

resource

Living Wage Benchmark, Non-Metropolitan Brazil

Living wage estimate for the State of São Paulo, Brazil focussing on orange production in the citrus belt. Global Living Wage Coalition, 2020.

initiative

Improving Living Conditions of Coffee Farmers

Global Coffee Platform collective action initiative aims at improving working conditions, including wages, in the Brazilian coffee sector.

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