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Penina Ben Gershom

Ms. Lindsey

Humanities

September 16, 2017

Economy and Religion of Brazil

Brazil is the largest country in South America and is the fifth-largest country in the

world. It has a population of over 200 million people with most people living in metropolitan

areas on the coast. Though Brazil is currently riddled with scandals and is in a recession, it has a

growing middle class and still ranks ninth on the scale of world economies. No longer one of the

fastest growing economies of the world, Brazil is still in the top ten countries and their market

for religious goods and services has grown and is continuing to grow.

Brazil went through a socio-economic transformation after World War II. Development

of their abundant natural resources, and their industrial sector (both in the domestic market and

for export), as well as tourism, were strong economic factors. They experienced rapid growth

from 1968 to 1973 until petroleum prices went up and the economic growth that was tied to oil

stalled. From 2004 to 2010 they averaged a 4.5% growth but during the 1980s and 1990s, their

economy suffered from serious inflation that subdued economic growth. In 1994, during the

presidency of Itamar Franco, they introduced an economic plan called Plano Real that saved the

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economy from inflation but by 2010 they were no longer one of the worlds fastest-growing

economies.

Economic mismanagement has caused Brazil's economy to fall into a bad recession. Still,

they have the fourth largest car market in the world and they export many products including

electrical equipment, airplanes, cars, textiles, shoes, metals, orange juice, soybeans and corned

beef. Most of the country is tropical and due to the rich soil content, it has been the largest

producer of coffee for the last century and a half. Also, the economic downturn in Brazil has not

prevented the growth of Brazils market for religious goods and services. This is generally

attributed to the evangelization of Brazil due to people turning to religion during hard times.

Catholicism has long been the dominant religion in Brazil and today more than 60% of

the country is still Catholic. There has been a strong rise in evangelical churches however and

according to the Financial Times, While Brazil is still home to the worlds largest Catholic

population, evangelicals now account for about a quarter of the population and are expected to

outnumber Catholics by 2040, according to studies by the countrys statistics agency and

Euromonitor.

Brazil has gone through many ups and downs following their successful entrance into

high-level world socio-economics after World War II. They have suffered under some leaders

and done well under others. Even though Brazils economy has gone down by three and a half

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percent in the last year, it is still one of the world's biggest economies and the growing faith-

driven market is a sign that they might be able to go into another upswing.

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Works Cited
Brazil. Brazil Economy: Facts, Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, Corruption,

www.heritage.org/index/country/brazil. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

Brazil: Five Centuries of Change. Brazil Five Centuries of Change,

library.brown.edu/create/fivecenturiesofchange/chapters/chapter-9/brazil-as-a-global-economic-

player/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

FocusEconomics. Brazil Economy - GDP, Inflation, CPI and Interest Rate. FocusEconomics |

Economic Forecasts from the World's Leading Economists, www.focus-

economics.com/countries/brazil. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

Gilchrist, Karen. Brazil tumbles deeper into its worst ever depression. CNBC, CNBC, 8 Mar.

2017, Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

Written by Alex Gray, Formative Content. The world's 10 biggest economies in 2017. World

Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/worlds-biggest-economies-in-2017/.

Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.