Among the largest economies in the world, Brazil recorded the largest increase in public spending in the period from the end of the past decade to the eve of the new coronavirus pandemic.
From 2008, when the global financial crisis hit, until 2019, the joint spending of the Union, states and municipalities increased from 29.5% to 41% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), without including interest charges - the highest on the planet.
The country now boasts the largest state apparatus outside Europe - and far superior to that of any major emerging country with available data.
The information was obtained from a database of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) that seeks to harmonize budgetary statistics worldwide, facilitating comparisons.
Folha's survey covered 20 countries selected from the most important global and Latin American economies.
China, India, and Argentina were left out, for which there is no data. Of the three, however, it is known that only neighboring Argentina can have public expenditure comparable to that of Brazil.
Relatively recent, the data portrays a period of high government spending in much of the world, in reaction to the crisis spread by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon