The economy of Brazil has been characterized by instability, and exceptionally unstable periods have affected a number of Brazilian states before and after the country's independence in 1822.
Before independence
CrisisDescriptionOriginGovernment1745 slave measles epidemicAccording to a 1745 "list of slaves who traveled to the county's engenho of Sergipe" in the Jesuit Registry,"Lista dos escravos que se tomaram para o engenho de Sergipe do conde" de Linhares, Cartório dos Jesuítas, mç. 15, n.º 25, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisboa, Portugal there were large losses in "all engenhos of Brazil" from an "epidemic brought by the Costa da Mina slave ship, [...] and caused damages, losses and costs" (to the colonial economy).InternalAndré de Melo e CastroLate 18th-century mining declineCaused by the depletion of the country's gold and other precious-metal mines, ending the Brazilian Gold Rush. During the colonial period, sugar followed by gold had been at the center of the economy. After the Gold Rush ended, Brazil lacked another substantial commodity to fill the gap left by the precious metals. During the crisis, the population's purchasing power was severely reduced. The crisis ended during the 19th century, when coffee became central to the Brazilian economy.InternalSeveral, including John VI of Portugal and Pedro I of Brazil
After independence +CrisisDescriptionOriginGovernmentCrisis of Independence Crisis during the process of Brazil's independence, characterized by a lengthy stagnation in exports, and ending when coffee became the country's main commodity.InternalPedro I1857 crisisThe crisis was caused by a Commodity price shock. Coffee prices fell during this Panic of 1857 and its sales fell from 2 million to 1.8 million bags the following year.ExternalPedro II1864 crisisUnlike the 1857 and the 1875 crisis, this one had an internal cause, which was an excessively recessive monetary policy adopted in the beginning of the decade.InternalParaguayan WarA costly conflict. The war generated financial and economic hardships which lasted the rest of Pedro II's reign and antecipated the fall of the monarchy.External1875 crisis This was a consequence of the Panic of 1873, which affected Brazil two years later. The crisis was marked by a large deficit in Brazil's public finances, and the government removed 20 percent of the country's money supply from circulation. It was revived by a drought in the Northeast Region two years later.ExternalEncilhamentoThe Encilhamento was a national economic bubble during the late 1880s and early 1890s which burst during the first Brazilian military dictatorship (1889–1894), leading to institutional and financial crises.Amy Chazkel; "Laws of Chance: Brazil's Clandestine Lottery and the Making of Urban Public Life" Duke University Press 2008 pp.146Assis, Oxford Edition 2000. Foreword pp. xv Two finance ministers (the Afonso Celso and Rui Barbosa) adopted a policy of unrestricted credit for industrial investments backed by the abundant issuance of money.Ney O. Carvalho; "Encilhamento: Anatomia de uma bolha brasileira" ("Encilhamento: Anatomy of a Brazilian Bubble") Bovespa 2004Chazkel, 2008 Chapter 4 The economic incentives encouraged speculation, increased inflation, and encouraged fraudulent initial public offerings (IPOs) and takeovers.Jeffrey D. Needell; "A Tropical Belle Epoque: Elite Culture and Society in Turn-of-the-Century" Cambridge University Press 1987 Page 12Jose Murilo de Carvalho, "Os Bestializados, o Rio de Janeiro e a República que não foi" ("Brutalized ones, Rio and the Republic that didn't came") Cia das Letras 1987 P.20InternalDeodoro da Fonseca, Floriano PeixotoGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression during the 1930s, beginning in the United States. It greatly affected coffee production (Brazil's main export), and Getúlio Vargas' government bought and burned several tons of coffee to stabilize producer prices.ExternalGetúlio VargasOil crisisThe 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages and higher prices. The decade's two worst years were 1973 and 1979, when the Yom Kippur War and the Iranian Revolution triggered interruptions in Mideast oil exports.ExternalEmílio Garrastazu Médici, Ernesto Geisel Latin American debt crisisBrazil's "lost decade" was generally the 1980s, the final years of the country's military dictatorship and the first years of civilian government. It was a period of economic stagnation, hyperinflation, and crippling foreign debt. During the hyperinflation (which lasted into the 1990s), prices rose daily and consumers spent their paychecks as soon as they received them. Internal João Figueiredo, José Sarney, Fernando Collor de MelloTequila effectTequila effect is how the local consequences of the Mexican peso crisis of 1994 became known in Brazil. Brazil's economy had a brief recession, which lasted a few months.ExternalFernando Henrique CardosoSamba effectA sharp depreciation (about one-third of its value) of the newly-adopted Brazilian real in 1999, when the Central Bank of Brazil modified its exchange rates and determination method.InternalFernando Henrique Cardoso2008 financial crisisThe 2008 financial crisis began in the United States and, although its effects were delayed in Brazil, there was a national economic slowdown.ExternalLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva2014 Brazilian economic crisisAlso known as the "great Brazilian recession", it was marked by two consecutive years of recession and a very slow recovery. The economic crisis led to a political one which, with other factors, culminated in the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. The fiscal crisis was not an explicit cause of her impeachment.InternalDilma Rousseff, Michel TemerCOVID-19 pandemicIn 2020, as Brazil was still recovering from the 2014 crisis, it was struck by the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020, the country's central bank predicted a four-percent drop in GDP.ExternalJair Bolsonaro
See also Timeline of Brazilian economic stabilization plans Economic history of Brazil
References