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Population Size and Distribution of Brazil
Population
Population Size and Distribution
At the turn of the century, Brazil's population was 17,438,434.
By 1950 it had grown to 51,944,397, and in 1970 it reached 93,139,037.
By 1991 Brazil was the world's sixth most populous country, with
about 2.7 percent of the world's 5.3 billion people or 147,053,940
inhabitants. In July 1996, the population was counted as being 157,079,573,
but estimated in 1997 to be nearly 160 million. Projections indicate
a total population of 169 million in 2000 and 211 million in 2020,
and population stability at about 250 million in 2050. The population
growth rate for the 1992 to 2000 period is estimated at 1.5 percent
per year. As a result of the decline in mortality and continued
high fertility during the 1950s and 1960s, the average growth rate
was nearly 3 percent per year. Subsequent to a decrease in total
fertility, the growth rate dropped to 2.5 percent in the 1970s and
1.9 percent in the 1980s.
Average population density in Brazil in 1994 was 18.5 inhabitants
per square kilometer. There was a wide variation between the densely
populated Southeast
and South, on the one hand, and the sparse North
and
Center-West, on the other, with the Northeast
at intermediate levels. In comparison, in 1991 the United States
(including Alaska) had an average of twenty-five inhabitants per
square kilometer; France, 100; the United Kingdom, 100; China, 110;
and Canada, three.
According to the 1996 count, the most populous region in the country
is still the Southeast (63 million inhabitants), followed by the
Northeast (45 million), the South (23.1 million), the North (11.1
million), and the Center-West (10.2 million). The most inhabited
states are São
Paulo, Minas
Gerais, Rio
de Janeiro, Bahia,
Rio Grande
do Sul, and Paraná. These states all lie along the Atlantic
coast.
In some rural areas and many cities, particularly in major metropolitan
areas, females outnumber males. The historical predominance of women
over men in the Brazilian population has persisted. The 1996 count
showed that there were ninety-seven men for every 100 women and
that the total number of women exceeded the number of men by 5 million.
The average age of the Brazilian population has increased as a
result of a continued decrease in mortality and fertility. Between
1980 and 1990, the proportional share of children from birth to
age fourteen decreased from 38.2 to 34.7 percent, while the share
for those of age fifteen to sixty-four increased from 57.8 to 61.1
percent. The proportion of elderly (age sixty-five or greater) increased
from 4.0 to 4.2 percent and is projected to reach 9.0 percent by
the year 2020. In all regions of the country, the count registered
an increased number of people of ages fifteen to sixty-four and
of older people over sixty-four years old. In the Southeast, for
example, the proportion of people in the former age bracket increased
from the 61.7 percent registered in 1980 to 63.6 percent in 1991,
while the number of older people increased from 4.2 percent to 5.1
percent.
The demographic transition in Brazil becomes apparent as the bottom
of the very wide-based pyramid, typical of developing countries
with high birthrates, begins to narrow (see fig. 6). Further declines
in the fertility rate, estimated at 2.44 children born per woman
in 1994, eventually will lead to a pyramid that is shaped more like
a bullet, with cohorts under age sixty of roughly equal size. Senior
citizens will live longer, and the proportion of young people will
decline. In the year 2000, young people will account for 28.3 percent
of the population and senior citizens, 8 percent. Couples will have
fewer children, and the fertility rate may be less than 2.2 children
per woman, the replacement level.
Data as of April 1997
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