Posted on February, 02 2015

From 2003 to 2013, the number of millionaires more than doubled in 13 Brazilian states; among them are 8 of the 10 states that make up Brazils North and Midwest regions. This information was published by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, last January 18.
 
The “map of fortunes” in Brazil was created by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Department based on the income tax returns for 2014. Anyone with an annual income over one million US dollars is considered to be a millionaire. “In just one decade the number of millionaire taxpayers nationwide jumped from 18.5 thousand to 29.8 thousand, an increase of  61%”, said the report.
 
According to the article ‘North and Midwest become Hotbeds for Millionaires’ by Julio Wiziack, one of the reasons for these new fortunes has been the expansion of the agricultural frontier.  In 2003, the Brazilian government boosted agricultural incentives with an eye on the high prices of commodities in international markets. Since then, agricultural production has vastly increased and spearheaded the rush for land in new areas.
 
The information in the newspaper article is no surprise. In the Amazon region, deforestation is one of the consequences of agribusiness growth and extensive cattle ranching accounts for 80% of current deforestation.
 
“The Amazon is one of the most bio-diverse biomes in the world, but it has been highly threatened by deforestation and 17% of the Amazon forest has been lost in the last 50 years. The biggest impacts of deforestation are the loss of biodiversity, habitat degradation, alteration in global climate patterns and social impacts on local communities and indigenous groups”, explains André Dias, coordinator of the Curbing Deforestation and Fostering a Forest Economy strategy of the WWF Living Amazon Initiative.
 
 
Source: Folha de S. Paulo. In Portuguese: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2015/01/1576594-norte-e-centro-oeste-viram-maior-celeiro-de-milionarios-do-pais.shtml