Micro-entrepreneurs total over 8 million in Brazil

The number of autonomous professionals in Brazil registered as the so-called individual micro-entrepreneurs—MEI in the original acronym—has reached beyond the 8 million threshold in March, as per website Portal do Empreendedor.

In order for Brazilians to register under MEI, revenues must total no more than $20 thousand a year. Investors are not allowed to be a partner, administrator, or owner of another company, and are only permitted to hire one employee. They are given a firm registration number, with which they may open a bank account, grant loans, and issue receipts.

In March, most Brazilian micro-entrepreneurs were reported to work with clothing (641,346), masonry (358,053), sales (210,669), food (218,946), hairdressing, manicure, and pedicure (66,937).

The majority of entrepreneurs are aged between 31 and 40 (over 2.5 million), followed by those 41 to 50 years old (1.9 million), and 21–30 years of age (1.7 million). Those in the 51–60 years-old age group add up to 1.3 million. The oldest (61 to 70) amount to 446.1 thousand. Individual micro-entrepreneurs aged 16 and 17 are reported to total 575, compared to 69.9 thousand for 18–20 years old.