With low productivity, high employment boosts increase in per capita income

A scholar of Brazilian productivity and director of research at the Institute for Mobility and Social Development (IMDS), Fernando Veloso points out “the very strong connection between the growth of per capita income and productivity per hour worked” when looking at a longer period of time. Between 1982 and 2024, per capita income rose 1% on average per year, with a contribution of 0.6 percentage points to productivity. It is a greater influence than in the short-term analysis between 2020 and 2024, but it is based on lower growth. The occupancy rate has had zero effect in the period from 1982 to 2024. The indicator tends to hold a balance in a more lasting assessment, which adds up periods of ups and downs in the economic cycle.

“If the pace of productivity growth does not accelerate, the standard of living will grow even less than in the past” — Fernando Veloso.