Brazil spends more on social benefits, particularly on retirement than a combined average of 54 countries. The comparison is part of a report prepared by the Department of Finance, released on Tuesday (18th).
The report compared Brazilian statistics to numbers from countries from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).
The conclusion is that Brazil spends 12.7% of its GDP (R$ 792.87 billion or US$ 205 billion) with social security against an average of 8% of the other 54 countries. The list includes countries that have a much older population than Brazil, like Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, and Japan.
Brazil's social security spending is second only (and barely) to those of Scandinavian countries, such as Norway and Denmark. The average expenditure of these countries is 12.8% of their GDP.
When compared to Latin America and other emerging countries, the difference in spending is even more striking. They spend on average 10% on social security, disability, and other social benefits.
The report used available data from 2016.
The report showed that Brazil's high expenditure with social security is caused by the amounts spent on disability and disability benefits, retirement for old age and government employees' pensions.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV