2 Per capita GDP has been stagnant for a while

Per capita income, which is a better measure of standards of living, delivers a poor picture of Brazil’s economic performance. IMF data on real per capita GDP shows that there has been a stagnation on this front in the last few years. This number touched a high of 6,130 Brazillian real in 2014, but then fell to 5,623 Brazilian real in 2016. By 2021, it had slowly crept up to 5,696. Even in 2022, it remains 311 Brazilian real (5,819) behind its pre-recessionary level (2014) and IMF expects it to remain below till at least 2027. Against this backdrop, the nature of economic policies Lula puts in place to raise the per capita incomes will be interesting to look out for. What is certain is that delivering a hike in incomes similar to his first and second term – the per capita incomes rose by 26% in 2010 from 2003 – will be a far-fetched idea.