Some 3 m Brazilians shake off poverty in past 6 years

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-06 11:15

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Some 3 million Brazilians have shaken off poverty in the past six years, a 26.5-percent reduction in the poor population, according to a study released Tuesday.

The data were collected by Brazil's Applied Economic Research Institute (IPEA) from the six largest metropolitan areas, whose population accounts for 25 percent of the country's total population and 40 percent of its gross domestic product.

In 2002, there were 14.3 million poor people in Brazil. In 2003, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's first year in office, the number was 15.4 million. In 2008, it was reduced to 11.3 million, which means a 20.9 percent fall in six years.

The number of indigents fell from 2002's 5.5 million to 3.12 million in 2008, a 43.8-percent decrease.

The Brazilian government defines poor as those who live in families with a per capita income of half Brazil's minimum wage, or 207.5 reais (132.17 US dollars), and indigents as those living in families with a per capita income of a quarter of Brazil's minimum wage, or 103.75 reais (66.08 dollars).

Brazil is progressing to a country of relative poverty from absolute poverty. The rich-poor gap is shrinking, said IPEA president Marcio Pochmann.

The shrinking poor population is largely attributable to economic growth, a rising minimum wage, policies to encourage family farming and the government's social programs, according to Pochmann.