Brazilian industry created over 910 thousand jobs in four years
Brazilian industry created 910,900 jobs from 2019 to 2023, up 12 percent. The growth brought the sector to a total of 8.5 million people employed in 376,700 companies, as per the Annual Industrial Survey, released Wednesday (Jun. 25) by the statistics bureau IBGE.
The data show a curve of four consecutive years with an increase in the number of workers and the highest number of employees since 2015, when the industry employed 8.1 million people. However, employment in the sector in 2023 was down 3.1 percent compared to 2014—i.e. 272,800 fewer people employed in ten years.
The consolidated information for 2023 was provided by the companies the following year, which is why the researchers did not conclude the survey until 2025.
Food in the spotlight
When classifying companies by activity, the survey shows that the manufacture of food products stands out on two counts—in addition to being the industry that hires the most, it is also the one that has seen the biggest surge in the number of workers.
From 2019 to 2023, the number of people employed in the food industry rose by 373,800, bringing the total number of workers to 2 million.
This means that food manufacturers employ 23.6 percent of the workforce in Brazilian industry—practically one in four people employed.
The survey’s analyst, Marcelo Miranda, pointed out that, when looking for data, IBGE does not question companies about the reasons behind certain behaviors, like increased production. But he believes that the prominence of the food sector can be justified by internal and external issues.
“The food sector is extremely strong. The fourth largest product is beef,” he said, noting that there may have been an “improvement in consumer expectations, in world demand for Brazilian products, and in the domestic demand.”
Of all the 29 economic activities surveyed, only two showed a drop in the number of employees from 2019 to 2023—the manufacture of coke (the coal-derived fuel), petroleum products, and biofuels (106.2 thousand fewer); and the printing and reproduction of recordings (3 thousand fewer).
