Additional Facts on Brazil´s Middle Class

On August 8, 2011, the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of Brazil (SAE) released the details of a survey on Brazil’s middle class, conducted by the independent consultancy Data Popular. The following information references this survey as well as other recent studies by Brazilian economists and polling institutions.

PURCHASING POWER AND SPENDING

Data Popular figures reveal that as of 2009, Brazil’s middle class (C Class) accounts for:

78% of supermarket purchases in Brazil

60% of women who frequent beauty salons in Brazil

70% of credit card holders in Brazil

80% of Brazilians with access to the Internet

The new middle class spends R$ 273 billion a year on the Internet out of their paychecks alone. If one considers the credit available to them, this amount will double.

Brazil’s C Class – holds 46.24% of the purchasing power (2009) in Brazil and surpasses classes A and B (44.12%) awe well as D and E (9.65%).

In 2009, Brazil’s C Class accounted for R$ 881 billion of overall consumer spending – the largest share of the country’s total of R$ 2.2 trillion in consumer spending. In education alone, including school tuition, books and school supplies, consumption totaled R$ 15.7 billion (compared to R$ 1.8 billion in 2002).

The Data Popular survey shows that 19% of the C Class population (18.1 million) plans to buy property in the coming 5 years, and 9.5 million intend to purchase a car in the next 12 months (either new or used).

EDUCATION

Between 2002 and 2010, university-level voters in C Class grew from 6 million to 9 million, with 11 million university-level voters projected for 2014. There were 48 million voters with secondary-level education in the C class last year, with 52 million projected for 2014.

According to a Data Popular survey, 68% of C Class youths have more schooling than their parents, compared with 10% in classes A and B. The data demonstrates the importance of education among the fastest growing class in the country.

HOUSEHOLD INCOME

Between 2003 and 2009, the C Class population experienced an increase of more than 40% in household income; 2009 data shows that this class earns monthly incomes ranging from R$ 1,100 to R$ 4,500. This increase has already injected more than R$ 100 billion into the economy since 2002. The data is from Data Popular.

The new rural C Class, whose household income ranges from R$ 1,126 to R$ 4,854 a month, has increased 72% since 2003. The study “Pobreza e a Nova Classe Média no Brasil Rural” (Poverty and the New Middle Class in Rural Brazil), by economist Marcelo Cortes Neri, shows that this social stratum comprised 35.4% of the rural population in 2009 compared to 20.6% in 2003. In 2009, the new rural C Class accounted for 9.1 million of the 25.7 million residents of rural areas.

"The reduction in inequality has been stronger and faster in Brazil’s rural areas, especially in the poorest regions." 

POVERTY REDUCTION AND SOCIAL MOBILITY

Home to 15% of the Brazilian population, rural areas have experienced a sharp reduction in poverty, with the overall rate of households with income of up to R$ 1,100 falling from 51.5% to 31.9% of residents.

"There has been a visible increase in rural income, something that only used to occur in urban areas before. There is also more dynamic social mobility in rural areas, which has improved people's lives." – Brazil’s Minister of Agrarian Development, Guilherme Cassel

Strong social mobility in Brazil is causing profound changes in the profile of young C Class workers. With a level of schooling higher than that of their parents, young Class C workers entered the labor market in higher paying jobs, according to the study by Data Popular. The survey shows that each year of schooling leading up to higher education results in an additional 15% in income. The managing partner of Data Popular, Renato Meirelles, pointed out survey findings that only 26% of the current generation of parents belonging to the C Class has completed their primary education, compared with 65% of their children.

DEMOGRAPHIC MAKEUP

18% of the new C Class is significantly comprised of youth (ages 15 to 24 years); and 48% of this class are of black ethnicity, as of 2009.

NUTRITION

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE), there was excessive weight gain among Brazilians who rose to a higher economic class, especially among women. In 2009, seven out of ten women belonging to the C class were overweight – the highest proportion of overweight women of any income stratum.

For more information on the Data Popular survey (in Portuguese), please visit: 
Source: Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of Brazil (SAE)

Source:
Secom

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