World wide, much is talked about Europe, Canada, United States, Russia and China, specially nowadays. But the international community, for the most part, barely hears about Brazil, the giant of south america, biggest country and economy in Latin america.
With this, and because I’m brazilian, I decided to write this article on the “state of Brazil” in 2025, what are the numbers and the expectations for the “country of the future”.
Economy
Despite repeated attacks from Donald Trump, the brazilian economy has impressed many. From exports breaking a 30 year record to GDP expected to grow 2%(Revised down from 2.1% previously), probably raising the country to 9th in GDP globally and the stock market at an all time high of 146k points.
This doesn’t just benefit the rich, as inequality has reached the lowest recorded level since 2012 and minimum wage went up 7.5% from last year, above inflation(Currently at 5%, going down). The average wage went up by 3.6%, after inflation.
There are also projects, nearly complete, to create a free trading zone between Mercosur(of which Brazil is part of) and EU/Efta which should boost all economies in those two blocs.
Finally, the government also created a R$500 Billion(~$100 Billion) credit line for agriculture and R$300 Billion(~$60 Billion) for industry this year.
Society
Society has seen improvements all around, with Brazil going up 5 ranks in the HDI(0.014 away from whats considered developed) in the most recent rank data. Violent deaths have registered a record low of 10 years, and the country has left UN’s Hunger Map.
Unemployement is currently at 5.6%, lowest in 13 years and going down month by month. 900 thousand families left government assistance programs because of increase in their wages. The government also increased its investiment in free healthcare.
Technology & Infrastructure
Brazil has surpassed U.S. and Japan in 5G speed and invested, alongside china, billions in a new railway connecting east and west ports reducing time and cost of transporting goods to asia.
A new law was created to make it easier/cheaper to bring datacenters to the country(in exchange for 2% investiment in R&D in digital production chains in Brazil, 10% of services being reserved for the domestic market and meeting sustainability requirements, with renewable or clean energy, as well as water efficiency). And to ensure clean energy, Brazil also remained one of the largest investors in renewables in the world, ranking 4th in numbers released this year.
It’s not perfect
I started the post by talking the good things first, since Brazil is normally only known for soccer and hot people, but things obviously aren’t perfect.
Investiment in industry has grown, but it needs to double to be effective. Inflation has been trending down, but still is 0.5% above the goal. Crime still is high in certain regions, corruption still is a problem despite improvements and education still has ways to go.
Brazil, at the end of the day, still is a country with issues and much development to go through. Due to its continental size(being almost as big as europe) and history as colony of exploration, this process will take a long time and lots of money.
All in all, Brazil in 2025 is a nation of contrasts: clear economic and social gains alongside persistent challenges. Becoming a fully developed country will be long and costly. Still, recent momentum suggests Brazil’s future may be brighter than many expect.
