How big is Brazil’s ICT industry?

The Brazilian ICT macrosector, encompassing IT services, software, hardware, telecoms and related activities, accounted for 6.9% of GDP in 2021, generating 598bn reais (US$124bn) in total production terms.

The amount represents a nominal annual increase (excluding inflation) of 18.3%, compared to 4.6% of national GDP growth.

The figures are from a report industry association Brasscom presented during the entity’s Brasstec Forum event this week.

Overall, the report includes data from operators, from electro-electronic industry association Abinee, research firm IDC, and financial reports of Brazilian state-owned companies, among other sources, Brasscom said.

By the end of pandemic year 2020, sector GDP was 495bn reais, for an expansion of 3.3% year-over-year, driven mostly by an increase in digital services that became essential amid the mobility restrictions.

The sector employed around 1.9mn people at the end of 2021, following net job additions of 198,000 during the year, according to Brasscom.

ALSO READ: Opportunities and Challenges in Brazil's ICT Market 

SEGMENTS

Production in the telecom sector amounted to 252bn reais, a nominal growth of 4.7%, while 21,000 jobs were created last year for a total of 330,000 and growth of 6.9%.

IT production, excluding telecom and in-house IT applications, totaled 293bn reais, a growth of 36.4% over the 206bn reais reported in 2020. 

Cloud infrastructure and cloud software soared 42% and 32%, respectively.

Employment in the IT sector was also higher than in telecoms, with 129,000 net jobs during the year, fueled by the development and expansion of software services and digital tools.

This high demand is pushing wages up and increases the challenge of finding skilled professionals. 

Brasscom projects a demand of around 797,000 IT professionals for the 2020-2025 period, representing an average of 159,000 professionals per year, although less than 60,000 professionals graduate with a technology-related degree annually.

Using IDC information, Brasscom also presented investment forecasts, estimating investments from the software, services, hardware and telecom services macrosector topping 511bn reais in 2025, increasing by 17.3% in the 2022- 2025 period.

Of that total, software should get 41.5%, IT services 26.8%, hardware 25.1% and telecom services 6.6%.

Blockchain, internet of things and cloud services investments are projected to grow strongest in the period by 36%, 27%, and 24%, respectively.

Full details of the report can be found here, in Portuguese.