Rio de Janeiro (26 June 2014) - Brazilians continue to rank as the people with the most confidence about the future according to the Gallup World Poll, a survey conducted by the Gallup Institute. Graded 8.8 on a scale of 0 to 10, Brazil once again topped the ranking for the eighth consecutive year. “Nobody sees the future with as much optimism as Brazilians,” said Marcelo Neri, Minister of Brazil’s Secretariat of Strategic Affairs.  

According to the survey, conducted in 138 countries, Brazilians rate their current living conditions and the provisions offered by the country with a score of 7.1 out of 10 – the highest for Brazil in the series. That score places Brazil 14^th in this category, ahead of countries including Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, India, China, Chile, Peru and Colombia.

During his presentation today at the João Saldanha Open Media Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Minister Neri attributed Brazil’s positive performance to three main drivers: the country’s reduced levels of inequality and extreme poverty, the continued growth of income in Brazil and the increased number of Brazilians who now own goods such as homes and cars.  

“The life of Brazilians is improving,” said the Minister. “We are experiencing a profound transformation in the country. It is not just about income. It has to do with education and other factors as well. In the Northeast, child mortality rates fell by 58 percent. What can be more important than that?”

For the Minister, Brazil’s greatest transformation over the last 10 years was the reduction of extreme poverty, with results that exceed the Millennium Development Goal target set by the United Nations. In 2000, the UN stipulated that countries should reduce levels of extreme poverty by 50 percent by 2015. “In 2012, we had already reduced that rate by 70 percent,” said the Minister. The biggest reason for this reduction is labor income, he said. Another important factor was the Bolsa Familia conditional cash transfer program, which he considers to have had a “spectacular supporting role” in the process. 

Minister Neri also cited data from the Monthly Employment Survey (PME), conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which shows that inequality levels have decreased and average real income has increased in Brazil - the latter by 4.35 percent above GDP in the 12 months ending in April 2014, which is the most up-to-date data available in the full survey.

The PME data also presents other positive indicators. “Today, the median Brazilian experiences Chinese-levels of income growth: 6.8 percent above GDP,” said the Minister. “The income of women, black people and those with lower levels of education, all traditionally excluded groups, has increased even further.”

The PME data shows that the reduction of inequality in Brazil is sustainable, according to the Minister. “The reduction of income inequality in Brazil is unparalleled, except perhaps during post-war periods in wealthy countries,” he said, noting that the latter differed from what is happening in Brazil and was not sustainable.

Minister Neri noted that between 2002 and 2003, only 16 of every 100 Brazilians crossed over the median income threshold in Brazil. Ten years later, 27 in every 100 Brazilians have crossed that same line, representing the most progress in the entire data series. “The probability of a Brazilian citizen moving up in life has never been higher,” he said.  

The Minister mentioned that while Brazil’s GDP grew by 27.8 percent between 2003 and 2012, the income of the average Brazilian grew by 51.7 percent over the same period, or about twice as much in per capita terms (not accounting for inflation and population growth). Other indicators demonstrate even better performance. “The income of the average Brazilian grew three times more than the GDP. If we look at the poorest Brazilians, we see that their income grew even more: by 106 percent. This means an increase four times greater than that of GDP,” said the Minister.

At the end of his presentation, Minister Neri mentioned data from a yet-to-be published survey by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA) regarding the street demonstrations held in 2013. While previous data showed that 75 percent of respondents supported the demonstrations that took place in June last year, that support has dropped to 54 percent in the new survey.   

The new survey will be released in the coming days.

The links below provide further details regarding the information presented by Minister Marcelo Neri:  

Presentation given at the the Open Media Centre:
http://www.compaso.com.br/docs/Neri_SAE_DIS_Eng_Short_CAM.pdf

Presentation: "Sensitivity: the Country of the Future:”
http://www.compaso.com.br/docs/Neri_ENG_Short_CAM2.pdf

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