Excerpted from the Brazil Career Guide

General Trends

With its population approaching 206 million inhabitants, the Federal Republic of Brazil is the largest country in South America and home to the world’s sixth-largest workforce at 104.3 million.

Despite modest growth last year, Brazil remains one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, having overtaken the United Kingdom last year to rank as the sixth-largest economy worldwide. Brazil is also South America’s largest economy, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than 2.5 trillion USD and a per capita GDP of 11,600 USD. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Brazil will move into fifth place among the world's largest economies, this time surpassing France, by the middle of this decade.

Industry Sectors

Services: The services sector accounts for more than two-thirds of Brazil’s GDP. Its diverse and sophisticated services industry includes developed telecommunications, banking, energy, commerce and computing sectors. The financial sector is secure and provides local firms with a wide range of financial products, yet interest rates remain among the highest in the world. The largest financial firms are Brazilian (and the two largest banks are government-owned), but US and other foreign firms have an important share of the market.

Industry: Industry, including steel, commercial aircraft, chemicals, petrochemicals, footwear, machinery, motors, vehicles, auto parts, consumer durables, cement and lumber, accounts for 28 percent of the country’s GDP. Brazil has one of the most advanced industrial sectors in Latin America.

Areas of Job Promise

Although Brazil’s economy is creating jobs at a slightly slower pace than prior years, the country’s labor market outlook is encouraging, with the largest risks coming from global economic uncertainties. In fact, Brazil is seeing tight labor markets and increased salaries. Companies have had to boost wages to hire or retain workers.

Bright Outlook for Job Seekers

Brazilian employers are the most optimistic in Latin America, according to Manpower Global. Fuelled by demand from the services sector, Brazil’s brisk hiring pace is expected to continue, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. Overall in Brazil, 45 percent of employers expect to add employees, and only 6 percent anticipate a decrease.

This is just a short sample of what you’ll find in over 100 pages of information in the Brazil Guide.