How violence hampers the Brazilian economy
The Brazilian Institute for Applied Economic Research released the 2019 Brazilian Violence Map—showing that the country registered 65,602 murders in 2017. This number, however, is not equally distributed. While the overall murder rate jumped 24% in 10 years, the rise in North and Northeastern states (the country’s poorest) was a staggering 68%. Youth and black males are also much more in danger than any other population group.
These numbers are explained by the success of drug gangs in the Southeast, which have branched out to other regions. They benefited from a booming market in the country’s less developed areas, which nevertheless experienced a jump in per capita income since the early 2000s. The war for the control of drug routes helps to explain the rise in murders.
According to the study, violence costs Brazil around 6% of its GDP. Citizens feel they need to spend more money on private security, whereas the state ends up injecting more resources on law enforcement and healthcare. The estimate also counts intangible costs, such as how much money Brazil loses by scaring off international tourists.