Brazil lost more than BRL 16 billion in human capital during the pandemic

A study carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE) of Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) estimates that, with the death of more than 650,000 people as a result of Covid-19, Brazil has lost more than R$ 16 billion in human capital. in the first two years of the pandemic.

According to economists, human capital is the set of knowledge and skills acquired over a lifetime.

To calculate these estimates, economists at FGV used averages of salary income and years of formal education. In addition to calculating the losses, the experts also projected how much the 326,300 people, aged between 20 and 69, could be useful to Brazilian society by producing and generating income.

According to the study, if the mass of monthly income of the 326,300 people killed by the disease in the country, aged between 20 and 69 years, is considered, the loss was R$ 754.3 million. Which, at the end of one year, would correspond to R$ 9.1 billion.

According to calculations made by IBRE, in the two-year period of the pandemic, 27.4% of Brazilian deaths occurred in the state of São Paulo (176,700) and 11.2% of deaths were recorded in the state of Rio de Janeiro ( 72.5 thousand).

In São Paulo, considering the total monthly income of the 88,800 people who died as a result of Covid-19, aged between 20 and 69, the loss was BRL 236.6 million. In the period of one year, this loss corresponds to R$ 2.8 billion.

In Rio de Janeiro, the loss is equivalent to R$ 80.3 million, taking into account the total monthly income of the 37,700 deceased people, aged between 20 and 69 years.

That is, 42% of the income lost due to the death of Brazilians, between 20 and 69 years old, corresponds to the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The study also provides an estimated calculation of how much people killed by the disease could still produce and generate income given their life expectancy.

According to experts, the 326,300 people aged between 20 and 69 who died in Brazil would have a total income of R$ 285.9 billion until the date of death.

For FGV economist Cláudio Considera, these deaths could have been avoided if the Brazilian Government had been able to carry out a prevention campaign. Only with the end of the pandemic will the economy be able to recover.

“Fortunately, the vaccination process progressed well in Brazil and in the world in 2021, despite the initial delay here and all the problems that occurred about it. Only with the end of the pandemic, which we hope will occur soon, will the economy be able to fully recover.”