PENSION SYSTEM
Brazil’s growing life expectancy and implications for a strained pension system
Brazilians are living longer and longer. But pension issues are forcing retired workers to return to the labor force. Photo: Lomb/Shutterstock
Average life expectancy at birth in Brazil has climbed to 76.6 years, an increase of roughly five years since 2000 and more than 30 years since 1940, according to recent data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The gains largely reflect a steep decline in child mortality, in turn driven by widespread vaccination, expanded access to health care and rising household income. Child mortality has fallen significantly since 1940, and it has more than halved since 2000.
At the turn of the millennium, 28.1 out of every 1,000 Brazilian children did not survive their first year. By 2024, that rate had dropped to 12.3. However, at the same time…
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