According to recent news, Brazil overtook United Kingdom’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and became the world’s sixth largest economy.
The expressive results of the economy has also fueled the number of trademark and patent applications filed in Brazil. According to the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office, in 2011 local and foreign individuals and companies altogether filed 152.735 trademark applications, an increment of approximately 20% over 2010. In the same period, almost 32.000 new patent applications were filed, representing an increasing of approximately 14% over 2010.
These good news reflect the very auspicious moment Brazil has been going through, which is supported by other impressive numbers recently condensed by the prestigious local magazine EXAME:
a) 6,7% – This is the lowest unemployment rate over the last ten years. In fields like extraction, construction, real state, financial intermediation and fuel retail services said rate is even lower. In turn, this number shows the high strength of the Brazilian domestic market.
b) 353 billion dollars – These are the country’s international reserves in last August, representing almost 50% more than the available reserves during the 2008 crises.
c) 400 billion dollars – This is the country stock of liquidity, providing the Brazilian Central Bank with a strong weapon to control the economy and deal with speculation.
d) 29 million people – This is the number of persons that ascended to the middle class from 2003 to 2009, craving for an enormous variety of products and services.
e) 7 million people – Equivalent to almost the entire population of Switzerland, this is the number of people that climbed to the upper income class during the 2003-2009 period, opening big opportunities for the luxury industry.
Specifically in the case of the movie industry, Brazil closed 2011 with 2,370 screens, 470 of which with 3D projectors. In 2010, we had 2,225 screens, 265 of which with 3D projectors. Further, according to Filme B, the box office of only the Brazilian films was in the amount of 1,4 billion Reais (about 700 million if you convert to dollars). We had 18 million moviegoers last year. Still not huge numbers if compared with traditional markets but Brazil is growing steadily and establishing itself as a potent revenue-creating machine.
Another figure that makes it clear the great path we are following relates to the highest grossing Brazilian movies of last year. While we had 5 Brazilian movies with more than 1 million attendees in 2010, 2011 saw this number grow to 7. Again, if compared to the United States or England, this is nothing but judging by Brazil’s own standards, this is a great victory.
And what about foreign blockbusters passing through Brazil? We had plenty these past years: Breaking Dawn, Fast Five and The Expendables just to name a few. And premieres and pre-openings with movies stars taking place in Rio and São Paulo abound. This is a clear sign that we are in the radar of the movie industry and that our local production capabilities is growing.
Also, we could not end this without reminding you that Brazil has been preparing itself to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, which will certainly result in a considerable extra surge to the economy in different areas such as urban transportation, safety, energy, hotel accommodation & services, food and drinks, sporting goods, and civil construction & architecture.
Of course, these very encouraging numbers cannot overshadow the country’s difficulties in several fields reflected, for instance, by its still low ranking at the Human Development Index (HDI), high interest rates and infrastructure bottlenecks. However, the fundaments of the Brazilian economy and the size of the internal market show that the country has been going in the right direction with an enormous energy.
Stay tuned!
Mauro Ivan C. Ribeiro dos Santos
Attilio Gorini
