Brazil’s metropolitan regions recorded in 2024 the lowest levels of inequality and poverty since 2012. The data come from the 16th edition of the Inequality in the Metropolises bulletin, prepared by the Metropolises Observatory in partnership with the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) and the Network of Social Debt Observatories in Latin America.
The Gini coefficient, which measures income concentration, dropped from 0.550 in 2023 to 0.534 in 2024, a 2.8% decrease. Despite the improvement, disparity remains high: the richest 10% had an average income of R$10,400 per capita compared to R$670 for the poorest 40% — a 15.5-fold difference, the lowest in the series but still considered “very poor” by researchers.
The improvement is mainly due to increased labor income among the poorest groups, driven by job recovery and the increase in the minimum wage. Social benefits also contributed, but to a lesser extent.
