Home > Research Library Publications > WIEGO Publication Series > Briefs > Statistical Briefs > Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile
Statistical Briefs

Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile

By , , on August 19, 2022

This brief examines data on employment in Brazil from 2012, 2019 and 2020, with a focus on five groups of workers who are mainly informal.

These five groups (domestic workers, market traders, street vendors, home-based workers and waste pickers) accounted for almost 14 million workers nationally in 2019. These groups represented about 15 per cent of total employment and one in four workers in informal employment.

In 2020, after COVID-19 hit, the number of workers in these groups dropped to nearly 12 million and 14 per cent of employment. Women working in these groups were especially hard hit, losing about 1.5 million jobs; by contrast, men lost around 370,000.

See a short snapshot of informally employed workers in Brazil, 2019 and 2020

This Statistical Brief is also available in Portuguese.

View list of all: Statistical Briefs

Street vendor in Salvadore, Brazil
Download the PDF(this link opens in new window)

Citation Information

Bouvier, Mathilde, Vanek, Joann, and Roubaud, François. Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile. , , . , 2022. https://www.wiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WIEGO-Statistical-Brief-N33-Brazil.pdfBouvier, M., Vanek, J., and Roubaud, F. (2022). Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile. , , . https://www.wiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WIEGO-Statistical-Brief-N33-Brazil.pdfBouvier, Mathilde, Vanek, Joann, and Roubaud, François. "Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile." 2022, .Bouvier Mathilde, Vanek Joann, and Roubaud François. "Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile." (2022). https://www.wiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WIEGO-Statistical-Brief-N33-Brazil.pdfBouvier, M, Vanek, J, and Roubaud, F 2022, 'Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile', , , . https://www.wiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WIEGO-Statistical-Brief-N33-Brazil.pdfMathilde Bouvier, Joann Vanek, and François Roubaud, 'Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile' (2022). Bouvier M., Vanek J., and Roubaud F. Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile. . 2022. https://www.wiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WIEGO-Statistical-Brief-N33-Brazil.pdfBouvier, Mathilde, Vanek, Joann, and Roubaud, François. Informal Workers in Brazil: A Statistical Profile. . 2022. , . https://www.wiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WIEGO-Statistical-Brief-N33-Brazil.pdf

The WIEGO Research Library

WIEGO is at the forefront of developing statistics and research to help audiences understand the informal economy. Our library includes over two decades-worth of informal economy research, policy analysis, statistics and documentation of organizing efforts.

Explore