Income inequality up in Brazil in 2022 despite increase in average remuneration in the country

Income inequality increased in Brazil in 2022 despite the increase in the average remuneration in the country last year, according to the 12th edition of the Inequality in the Metropolis bulletin, released on Thursday.

According to the study, which considers the reality of three income groups (the poorest 40 percent, the middle 50 percent, and the wealthiest 10 percent), the richest people earned 31 times more than the poorest in the country’s metropolitan regions last year.

Specifically, the average salary of the poorest 40 percent of the population last year was 253.95 reais per month (US$51) per capita; that of the middle 50 percent was 1,530.96 reais per month (US$310) per capita; and that of the wealthiest 10 percent, 7,933.66 reais in a month (US$1,610) per capita, leaving the country’s average at 1,644 reais per capita per month.

The income index considers earnings obtained through work. Therefore, resources received from social benefits are not taken into account.

Last year, the average income of 1,644 reais (US$333) increased by 12.29 percent over 2021. It was at pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, close to the 1,666 reais (current US$338) average salary in 2019, the highest record in the historical series.

According to the report, earnings have risen since the first quarter of 2022, after significant drops between 2020 and 2021, at the pandemic’s peak.

The advance, however, is notable among the wealthiest, while the incomes of the poorest walked almost sideways in the period.

Average wage increases in the last quarter of 2022 over the same period in 2021 were 11.88 percent for the poorest 40 percent, 12.25 percent for the middle 50 percent, and 14.75 percent for the wealthiest 10 percent.

“The consolidated data for 2022 confirm a trend that we have been following for a year: from 2022 onwards, there is a large growth in inequality, the result of the pandemic,” explained the study’s coordinator, André Salata.

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