IT Contracting in Brazil - Living and Working
Profile written by Matt Walters of Capital GES
(updated January 2016)
Languages
Language is a strong element of Brazil's national unity. There is much more difference between the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and the one spoken in Portugal as between the English spoken in the United States and that spoken in the United Kingdom.
Within Brazil, there are no dialects of Portuguese, but only moderate regional variations in accents, vocabulary, and use of personal nouns, pronouns, and verb conjugations.
Accommodation
Real estate prices in Brazil, in cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro can go for double that of similar sized residential properties in Miami or Las Vegas.
The residential boom is being fed by a government program that provides below market rate loans to developers building properties that can sell for under R$140,000, or $86,956. Home buyers in turn can get below market rate loans from government banks like Caixa Economica Federal, which has made housing affordable for many in a country growing richer by the year.
Those changes include a relatively stable to stronger currency, historically low unemployment and increasing salaries. The Brazilian real estate market has traditionally been focused on the higher segments and in major cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
In Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro’s most expensive district, the average price of new properties rose 36% y-o-y to BRL13,031 (US$8,212) per sq. m., while the price of existing properties increased 25% y-o-y to BRL12,134 (US$7,646) per sq. m.
Travel
i. Air
The key airports in Brazil are São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU), Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport (GIG) and Belo Horizonte- Tancredo Neves International Airport (CFN) - The cheapest fares are from February to May and August to November.
ii. Rail
Train services within Brazil is almost non-existent and the trains that do exist are seldom used.
iii. Road
Long-distance bus services connect Brazil to its neighbouring countries. It is easy to find connections linking the main capitals. Journeys might take days, however, depending on the accessibility of the destination.
iv. Boat
Amazon river-boats connect northern Brazil with Peru, Venezuela, and Columbia. The trip is rather tiresome and can take up to 12 days.
Brazil has recently become a top destination for contract and fixed work. The country’s economy has seen growth in the past few years and offers some of the world’s highest salaries and many Europeans have moved to Brazil.
| Official Languages: | Portuguese (official) – different from Portuguese spoken in Portugal. |
| Capital: | Brasilia |
| Timezone: | GMT -3 in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Brasilia GMT -4 in Eastern Brazil, GMT -2 in the Atlantic islands |
| Currency: | Real (R$) or BRL |
| Emergency Numbers: | 190 (police), 192 (medical), 193 (fire) |
| Key Airports: | São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU); Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport (GIG) – Belo Horizonte- Tancredo Neves International Airport (CFN) |
| Population: | 204,259,812 (July 2015 estimate) |
| Elecricity: | 220V/50Hz |
| Tax Year: | 1st January – 31st December |
| National holiday: |
January 1st - New Year April 6th - Friday - optional holiday – Christ Passion/Easter April 21st - Saturday national holiday - Tiradentes May 1st - Tuesday national holiday - Labor Day June 7th - Thursday optional holiday - Corpus Christi September 7th - Friday-national holiday-Independence Day October 12nd - Friday national holiday - N. Sra Aparecida October 28th - Sunday optional holiday - Public Employee November 2nd - Friday national holiday - Day of the Dead November 15th - Thursday national holiday - Republic Day December 24th - Monday optional holiday - Christmas Eve December 25th - Tuesday national holiday - Christmas December 31st - Monday optional holiday-New Year’s Eve |
| International dialing prefix: | +55 |
| Internet domain suffix: | .br |
| Cost of living: | Rio de Janeiro is ranked 67th on the Mercer worldwide costs of living survey. London is ranked 12th (2015). |
