of large current account deficits via capital account surpluses became problematic as investors became more risk averse to emerging market exposure as a consequence of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the Russian bond default in August 1998. After crafting a fiscal adjustment program and pledging progress on structural reform, Brazil received a $41.5 billion IMF-led international support program in November 1998. In January 1999, the Brazilian Central Bank announced that the real would no longer be pegged to the US dollar. This devaluation helped moderate the downturn in economic growth in 1999 that investors had expressed concerns about over the summer of 1998. Brazil's debt to GDP ratio for 1999 beat the IMF target and helped reassure investors that Brazil will maintain tight fiscal and monetary policy even with a floating currency. The economy continued to recover in 2000, with inflation remaining in the single digits and expected growth for 2001 of 4.5%. Foreign direct investment set a record of more than $30 billion in 2000.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.13 trillion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.2% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9%
industry: 29%
services: 62% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: 17.4% (1990 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 47.6% (1996)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (2000)
Labor force: 79 million (1999 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 53.2%, agriculture 23.1%, industry 23.7%
Unemployment rate: 7.1% (2000 est.)
Budget: revenues: $151 billion
expenditures: $149 billion, including capital expenditures of $36 billion (1998)
Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment
Industrial production growth rate: 6.9% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production: 337.44 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 5.28%
hydro: 90.66%
nuclear: 1.12%
other: 2.94% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 353.674 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 5 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 39.86 billion kWh
note: supplied by Paraguay (1999)
Agriculture - products: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef
Exports: $55.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities: manufactures, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee
Exports - partners: US 23%, Argentina 11%, Germany 5%, Netherlands 5%, Japan 5% (1999)
Imports: $55.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemical products, oil, electricity
Imports - partners: US 24%, Argentina 12%, Germany 10%, Japan 5%,
Italy 5% (1999)
Debt - external: $232 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: NA
Currency: real (BRL)
Currency code: BRL
Exchange rates: reals per US dollar - 1.954 (January 2001), 1.830 (2000), 1.815 (1999), 1.161 (1998), 1.078 (1997), 1.005 (1996)
note: from October 1994 through 14 January 1999, the official rate was determined by a managed float; since 15 January 1999, the official rate floats independently with respect to the US dollar
Fiscal year: calendar year
Brazil Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 17.039 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 4.4 million (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: good working system
domestic: extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations
international: 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region east), connected by microwave relay system to MERCOSUR Brazilsat B3 satellite earth station
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1,365, FM 296, shortwave 161 (of which 91 are collocated with AM stations) (1999)
Radios: 71 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 138 (1997)
Televisions: 36.5 million (1997)
Internet country code: .br
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 50 (2000)
Internet users: 8.65 million (2000)
Brazil Transportation
Railways: total: 30,539 km (2,129 km electrified); note - excludes urban rail
broad gauge: 5,679 km 1.600-m gauge (1199 km electrified)
standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge
narrow gauge: 24,666 km 1.000-m gauge (930 km electrified)
dual gauge: 336 km 1.000-m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails) (1999 est.)
Highways: total: 1.98 million km
paved: 184,140 km
unpaved: 1,795,860 km (1996)
Waterways: 50,000 km
Pipelines: crude oil 2,980 km; petroleum products 4,762 km; natural gas 4,246 km (1998)
Ports and harbors: Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus,
Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande,
Salvador, Santos, Vitoria
Merchant marine: total: 171 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,788,999 GRT/6,067,314 DWT
ships by type: bulk 33, cargo 26, chemical tanker 5, combination ore/oil 9, container 12, liquefied
