Significant Reduction in Extreme Poverty in Brazil During 2023

In 2023, Brazil saw a notable 40% drop in its extreme poverty rate from the previous year.

This significant shift was especially notable among black women, who experienced a 45.2% decrease, as reported by the Brazilian Observatory of Inequalities.

Drawing on data from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the report highlighted the Northeast region.

Here, extreme poverty rates fell from 4.7% in 2022 to just 2.7% in 2023. In 2023, the extreme poverty threshold was set at a monthly per capita income of no more than 109 reais (about $20), slightly up from 105 reais (around $19) in 2022.

This adjustment reflects a modest increase from the previous year’s benchmark. Despite the progress in reducing poverty, income inequality remains deeply entrenched.

The richest 1% of Brazilians earn a monthly per capita income that exceeds that of the poorest 50% by more than 31 times.

However, there was a significant 20% reduction in unemployment rates, along with an 8.3% real increase in average income from all sources during the same period.

Women particularly benefited from these economic improvements, with a real income growth of 9.6%, surpassing men’s growth of 7.7%.

However, Brazil continues to grapple with a substantial gender pay gap, where women earn 27% less than men.

Additionally, the income disparity based on race is stark, with black Brazilians earning 41% less than their non-black counterparts, and black women earning 57% less than non-black men.