Editing Economy of Brazil (section)

== History ==
{{Main|Economic history of Brazil|Economy of the Empire of Brazil}}

When the [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] explorers arrived in the 16th century, the [[Indigenous peoples of Brazil|native tribes of current-day Brazil]] totaled about 2.5&nbsp;million people and had lived virtually unchanged since the [[Stone Age]]. From Portugal's [[Colonial Brazil|colonization of Brazil]] (1500–1822) until the late 1930s, the Brazilian economy relied on the production of [[primary products]] for [[export]]s.

In the [[Portuguese Empire]], Brazil was a colony subjected to an imperial [[mercantile]] policy, which had three main large-scale economic production cycles – sugar, gold and from the early 19th century on, coffee. The economy of Brazil was heavily dependent on African [[slave labor]] until the late 19th century (about 3 million imported African slaves in total). In that period Brazil was also the colony with the largest number of European settlers, most of them [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] (including Azoreans and Madeirans) but also some Dutch (see [[Dutch Brazil]]), Spaniards, English, French, Germans, Flemish, Danish, Scottish and Sephardic [[Brazilian Jews|Jews]].

Subsequently, Brazil experienced a period of strong economic and demographic growth accompanied by mass immigration from Europe, mainly from [[Portuguese Brazilian|Portugal]] (including the [[Azores]] and [[Madeira]]), [[Italian Brazilian|Italy]], [[Spanish Brazilian|Spain]], [[German Brazilian|Germany]], [[Polish Brazilian|Poland]], [[Ukrainian Brazilian|Ukraine]], [[Swiss Brazilian|Switzerland]], [[Austrian Brazilian|Austria]] and [[Russia]]. Smaller numbers of immigrants also came from the [[Dutch Brazilian|Netherlands]], [[French Brazilian|France]], [[Finland]], [[Iceland]] and the [[Scandinavian Brazilian|Scandinavian]] countries, [[Lithuanians in Brazil|Lithuania]], [[Belgian Brazilian|Belgium]], [[Bulgarian Brazilian|Bulgaria]], [[Hungarian Brazilian|Hungary]], [[Greek Brazilian|Greece]], [[Latvia]], [[English Brazilian|England]], [[Irish Brazilian|Ireland]], [[Scottish Brazilian|Scotland]], [[Croat Brazilian|Croatia]], [[Czech Brazilian|Czech Republic]], [[Malta]], [[North Macedonia]] and [[Luxembourg Brazilian|Luxembourg]], the [[Arab Brazilian|Middle East]] (mainly from [[Lebanese Brazilian|Lebanon]], [[Syrian Brazilian|Syria]] and [[Armenian Brazilian|Armenia]]), [[Japanese Brazilian|Japan]], the [[Confederados|United States]] and [[Afrikaners|South Africa]], until the 1930s. In fact, international mass immigration to Brazil during the 19th century had positive effects on the country's [[Human capital|human capital development]]. Immigrants usually exhibited better formal and informal training than native Brazilians and tended to have more entrepreneurial spirit. Their arrival was beneficial for the region, not only because of the skills and knowledge they brought to the country themselves, but also because of spillover effects of their human capital to the native Brazilian population. Human capital [[Spillover (economics)|spillover effects]] were strongest in regions with the highest numbers of immigrants, and the positive effects are still observable today, in some regions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Baten|first1=Jörg|last2=Stolz|first2=Yvonne|last3=Botelho|first3=Tarcísio|date=2013|title=Growth Effects of 19th century mass migration: "Fome Zero" for Brazil?|journal=European Review of Economic History|volume=17-1|pages=95–121}}</ref>

In 2007, with a population of over 190 million and abundant natural resources, Brazil is one of the ten largest markets in the world, producing tens of millions of tons of steel, 26 million tons of cement, 3.5&nbsp;million television sets, and 3 million refrigerators. In addition, about 70&nbsp;million cubic meters of petroleum were being processed annually into fuels, lubricants, propane gas, and a wide range of hundreds of petrochemicals.<ref name=":0b">{{Cite news|url=https://www.capitalinvest-group.com/en/invest-in-brazil-ma-guide/|title=Why Invest in Brazil|date=23 August 2018|work=M&A Advisors Brazil|access-date=12 October 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://countryeconomy.com/demography/population/brazil|title=Brazil - Population 2017|work=countryeconomy.com|access-date=12 October 2018|language=en}}</ref>

Brazil has at least 161,500 kilometers of paved roads, more than 150 gigawatts of installed electric power capacity<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www2.aneel.gov.br/aplicacoes/capacidadebrasil/capacidadebrasil.cfm| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130226091925/http://www.aneel.gov.br/aplicacoes/capacidadebrasil/capacidadebrasil.cfm| archive-date = 26 February 2013| title = BIG - Banco de Informa es de Gera o}}</ref> and its real per capita GDP surpassed US$9,800 in 2017.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=World Economic Outlook Database, April 2022 |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April/weo-report?c=512,914,612,171,614,311,213,911,314,193,122,912,313,419,513,316,913,124,339,638,514,218,963,616,223,516,918,748,618,624,522,622,156,626,628,228,924,233,632,636,634,238,662,960,423,935,128,611,321,243,248,469,253,642,643,939,734,644,819,172,132,646,648,915,134,652,174,328,258,656,654,336,263,268,532,944,176,534,536,429,433,178,436,136,343,158,439,916,664,826,542,967,443,917,544,941,446,666,668,672,946,137,546,674,676,548,556,678,181,867,682,684,273,868,921,948,943,686,688,518,728,836,558,138,196,278,692,694,962,142,449,564,565,283,853,288,293,566,964,182,359,453,968,922,714,862,135,716,456,722,942,718,724,576,936,961,813,726,199,733,184,524,361,362,364,732,366,144,146,463,528,923,738,578,537,742,866,369,744,186,925,869,746,926,466,112,111,298,927,846,299,582,487,474,754,698,&s=PPPGDP,&sy=2020&ey=2023&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1|access-date=2022-04-19 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://knoema.com/atlas/Brazil/GDP-per-capita|title=Brazil GDP per capita, 1980–2017 – knoema.com|work=Knoema|access-date=12 October 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Its industrial sector accounts for three-fifths of the South American economy's industrial production.<ref name="BG">[https://archive.today/20070615145847/http://www.brasil.gov.br/ingles/about_brazil/ About Brazil] Brazilian government. Retrieved on 24 October 2011.</ref> The country's [[Brazilian science and technology|scientific and technological]] development is argued to be attractive to [[foreign direct investment]], in 2019, Brazil occupied the 4th largest destination for foreign investments, behind only the United States, China and Singapore.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/economia/noticia/2020-01/brasil-passou-para-quarto-destino-de-investimentos-no-mundo-em-2019| title = Brazil moved to fourth investment destination in the world in 2019| date = 20 January 2020}}</ref>

The agricultural sector, locally called the ''agronegócio'' (agro-business), has also been dynamic: for two decades this sector has kept Brazil among the most highly productive countries in areas related to the rural sector.<ref name="BG"/> The agricultural sector and the mining sector also supported trade surpluses which allowed for massive currency gains (rebound) and external debt paydown. Due to a downturn in Western economies, Brazil found itself in 2010 trying to halt the appreciation of the real.<ref>[http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/brazils-currency-wars-a-real-problem/ Brazil's Currency Wars – A "Real" Problem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728223809/http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/brazils-currency-wars-a-real-problem/ |date=28 July 2014 }} Sounds and Colours. Retrieved on 24 October 2011.</ref>

One of the most important [[Corruption in Brazil|corruption cases in Brazil]] concerns the company [[Odebrecht]]. Since the 1980s, Odebrecht has spent several billion dollars in the form of bribes to bribe parliamentarians to vote in favour of the group. At the municipal level, Odebrecht's corruption was aimed at "stimulating privatisations", particularly in water and sewer management.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://mondediplo.com/2017/10/08brazil| title = Brazil's Odebrecht scandal, by Anne Vigna (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, October 2017)| date = October 2017}}</ref>