Why Brazil?

Why Now?

Political and economic trends are lifting millions in Brazil out of poverty and into the middle class.^*

• The USA and Brazil are the two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere.
• Brazil imports three times as much from the United States as does China.
• Brazil is now the world’s seventh-largest economy and is predicted to be the fifth-largest consumer market in the world by 2025.
• Since 2003, 30 million in Brazil’s population of 200 million have moved from poverty to the middle class.
• Economic growth has expanded at an average rate of 4.2 percent since 2003.
• With 193 million of the world’s consumers and per-capita income expected to grow at 6% annually, Brazil’s demand for imports has more than tripled, from $47.2 billion in 2002 to $181.6 billion in 2010.
• Since 2002, U.S. exports to Brazil nearly tripled, growing from $12.4 billion in 2002 to $35.4 billion in 2010. In 2010, U.S. exports to Brazil were up 35 percent from 2009. Brazil receives more exports from the U.S. than from any other nation, nearly 15 percent of all goods exported to Brazil.
• By the end of 2009, Brazil’s economy represented 40 percent of the GDP of Latin America and the Caribbean.
• In 2008, China became Brazil’s top destination for exports, surpassing the United States which had held that position since the 1930s. Between 2000 and 2009, Brazil’s exports to China rose 18-fold.

^*For more on the US-Brazil economic relationship, see the White House Fact Sheet

Brazil’s economy is booming and drawing attention from around the world. Sustainable and mutually-beneficial connections will do more than strengthen trade: they will build long-term relationships based on respect, understanding, and curiosity.

Join us in developing a sustainable strategy for connections that matter!