Dilma Rousseff this week sent an optimistic message regarding Brazil’s economic prospects in 2012, declaring the country will maintain a ‘very favourable’ monetary policy and an ‘advantageous’ credit situation. Read more

Brazilian foreign minister Antonio Patriota has contacted British foreign secretary William Hague to express his solidarity in the wake of the recent attack by Iranian protestors on the UK embassy in Tehran. Read more

According to recent figures from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), average life expectancy in Brazil in 2010 was 73.5 years (69.7 for men, 77.3 for women) – more than three years higher than in the year 2000. The increase is due partly to the significant fall in infant mortality over the last decade. Read more

Based on an online poll conducted by the New7Wonders organization over the last four years, Brazil's Iguaçu Falls and the Amazon rainforest have been included among the 'new seven wonders of nature'. Read more

The soundness of Brazil's economy is indicated by the credit-rating agency’s decision to upgrade the Government's local currency debt from BBB+ to A-, and its sovereign dollar-denominated debts from BBB- to BBB. Read more

Many of the findings from Brazil's 2010 census reflect significant social and economic progress – such as the fall in the illiteracy rate to less than 10% among adults and less than 4% among children aged 10-14. Read more

The Brazilian Government has released its initial proposals regarding the themes and objectives of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in Rio de Janeiro in June next year. The conference has been put back two weeks to avoid clashing with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Read more

On 7 November the sixth meeting of JETCO, the committee set up to strengthen the economic and commercial relationship between Brazil and the UK, took place in London, co-chaired by Fernando Pimentel, Brazil's Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, and Vince Cable, the UK's Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Brazil-UK trade increased by more than a quarter between 2009 and 2010. Read more

The venues and kick-off times for the matches in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have been announced. Fans watching on TV in Britain should be reasonably happy, as matches from the second phase onwards will begin at 5, 8, or 9pm UK time. The final will be played in the iconic Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Read more

Launched eight years ago in October 2003, the Brazilian Government's Bolsa Família social-welfare programme has played a central role in the significant reduction of extreme poverty and child malnutrition in recent years. Read more

Brazil, India and South Africa this week called for closer policy coordination among G20 countries in order to counter the global economic downturn, and reiterated their commitment to achieving a greater role for developing countries in the UN Security Council. Read more

Not only is the country on course to receive a record-breaking number of foreign visitors during 2011, but a recent survey suggests they are more satisfied than ever before with their stays. Read more

The total value of Brazil's agricultural exports between January and September was almost 25% greater than during the same period last year, with the soy, sugar-alcohol and meat sectors leading the way. Given the likely rate of expansion of the farm sector over the coming years, Brazil is set to challenge the United States' position as the world's leading agricultural producer. Read more

President Rousseff met the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso, during Brazil-European Union Summit in Brussels on 4 October. The leaders agreed on the need for the reform of financial markets, changes to the international monetary system, and the progressive development of the green economy. Read more

The challenge of boosting the green economy of the Amazon region is among the issues to be discussed at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in Rio de Janeiro next year. Read more

Meeting in New York, the foreign ministers of the G4 (Brazil, Germany, India and Japan) reiterated their shared commitment to bringing about an enlarged UN Security Council that will better reflect modern geopolitical realities. Read more

A study by the National Space Research Institute and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company suggests that soybean cultivation has been responsible for only a tiny proportion of deforestation in the Amazon region in recent years. Read more

President Dilma Rousseff has become the first woman to open the General Debate at the General Assembly of the United Nations. Among the themes covered in her speech were the economic crisis, reform of the UN Security Council, the 'Arab Spring', Palestine, and the environment. Read more

With just under a thousand days to go before the start of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, all infrastructure projects are safely on course for completion before the tournament begins. Nine of the twelve stadiums are expected to be ready by the end of 2012, the other three during 2013. Read more

The Brazilian president expressed 'solidarity and grief' on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, and said the US can count on Brazil to contribute to 'the construction of a more pacific and more just international order'. Read more

Although some 40 million Brazilians have joined the middle classes in recent years, President Rousseff reiterated this week that extreme poverty remains the country’s ‘principal problem and greatest challenge’. She launched an initiative to assist the 2.7 million people in southeast Brazil who are living on less than R$70 a month. Read more

Brazil’s Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) is embarking on a major new project in Mozambique, and José Graziano da Silva, the Brazilian recently elected to head the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, has stressed the potential for further agricultural cooperation between Latin America and Africa. Read more

The National Institute of Technology (INT) and the Military Engineering Institute (IME) have filed international patent applications for the two unprecedented processes developed jointly to make aviation bio-kerosene. Read more

In a speech at the opening of the draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup® Qualifying Rounds on 30 July, President Dilma Rousseff said that those visiting Brazil for the World Cup would get to know "a Brazil beyond its soccer, its music and its popular festivals. They will get to know a better, better prepared Brazil." Read more

Polo might not be one of the sports most closely associated with Brazil, but it was a Brazilian team that provided the opposition for England in the centenary Coronation Cup match at the Guards Polo Club on 24 July. Read more

Ahead of the draw for the 2014 World Cup qualifying groups, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro on 30 July, Brazil’s Ministry of Sports has predicted that the tournament will inject an additional US$ 70 billion into the economy. Read more

In Beijing this week, Brazilian health minister Alexandre Padilha and his counterparts from Russia, India, China and South Africa discussed ways of making medicines and vaccines more affordable in their regions. Read more

A discussion on 'Brazil and Europe: the politics of the new global economy' was held by the Embassy and the international think-tank the Policy Network on 12 July. The speakers were Ambassador Jaguaribe, Lord Mandelson, Jim O'Neill (Goldman Sachs) and Ngaire Woods (Oxford University). Read more

According to a recent report there are around 115,000 Latin Americans living in the capital, which is almost four times more than the estimated number ten years ago. Brazilians make up the largest group, followed by Colombians. Read more

A new commission created by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply will be working to improve the welfare of livestock in Brazil. This follows the launch in 2009 of Brazil's humane-slaughter programme in association with the World Society for the Protection of Animals. Read more

José Graziano da Silva has been elected Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), becoming the first Latin American to hold the position. His term of office will be from January 2012 to July 2015. His previous roles include that of Brazil's Minister for Food Security and Combating Hunger. Read more

A high-level British trade mission visited Brazil this week, led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Trade Minister Lord Green. Mr Clegg met with Brazilian Vicepresident Michel Temer and Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota, with whom he signed agreements on international development and cultural cooperation. Read more

A new study predicts that Brazil’s farm sector will expand significantly over the next ten years, challenging the United States’ position as the world’s leading agricultural producer. Brazil is expected to remain the biggest exporter of chicken and beef, and to increase exports of corn, milk and soy by more than 50%. Read more

Declaring that Brazil will only be a 'truly rich country' when all its citizens have enough income to support themselves and their families, President Rousseff has announced Brasil sem Miséria, an initiative aimed at helping Brazil's poorest people, which includes the expansion of the Bolsa Família welfare programme, vocational training and micro-credit. Read more

Brazil is working with other emerging and developing countries in order to have a greater voice in the selection of the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Read more

The Brazil Institute at King's College London is to launch its new Master's programme 'Brazil in Global Perspective' in September 2011. Examining various aspects of modern Brazil, the course will ask why and how the country has changed and where it is going. Students will be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of Brazil that will equip them to pursue diverse careers relating to the country. Read more

The annual gala dinner held by the Embassy of Brazil and the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce took place on 17 May. The 'Personality of the Year' awards this year went to Luciano Coutinho, President of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), and Cynthia Carroll, CEO of Anglo American. The guests of honour were Andre Esteves (CEO of BTG Pactual) and the Rt Hon The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon. Read more

According to a World Bank report published this week, Brazil and five other emerging economies will account for more than half of all global growth by 2025. Read more

According to a recent survey, 43 million Brazilians (23% of the total population) are active users of the internet – an increase of more than 5 million since last year. The government intends to equip every school in Brazil with broadband internet access by 2014. Read more

At the end of their summit in Sanya, China, on 14 April, the leaders of the five BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and new member South Africa – issued a wide-ranging joint statement on issues including the global economy and UN reform. Read more

The Minister for Mines and Energy, Edison Lobão, said in a recent interview that Brazil's energy mix stands out for being relatively clean and renewable. Almost half Brazil's energy comes from renewables – compared with a global average of 12% – and hydropower alone produces more than three-quarters of the country's electricity. Read more

Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, today concludes a three-day visit to Brazil aimed at further developing the UK-Brazil partnership on global environmental issues including the protection of biodiversity. Read more

José Alencar Gomes da Silva, Brazil's vice-president from 2003 to 2010, died on 29 March at the age of 79 after a long battle against illness. President Rousseff said it was 'a great honour' to have worked with him. Read more

The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) has produced some eye-catching statistics on the global issue of deforestation. For example, because far less forest has been lost in Brazil than elsewhere, the country used to contain less than 10% of the world’s total forested area but now has almost 30%. Read more

In a two-day visit to Brasília and Rio, US president Barack Obama described Brazil as an equal partner and acknowledged the need for international institutions to be reformed. Read more

Following the terrible loss of life in January’s floods and landslides in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil is creating a nationwide warning and prevention system aimed at minimising the consequences of extreme weather events in future. Science and technology minister Aloizio Mercadante has confirmed that part of the system will be in place by the middle of this year. Read more

Discussing his candidature for Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Brazilian José Graziano da Silva said this week that the world should aim beyond the Millennium Development Goal of halving world hunger by 2015 and endeavour to eliminate hunger altogether by 2025. Read more

Vigorous GDP growth of 7.5% in 2010 – the highest rate since 1986 – saw Brazil's economy overtake Italy in the global ranking. Growth in 2011 is expected to be 5% or slightly less. Read more

In a message marking International Women's Day on 8 March, President Rousseff said successful policies for the elimination of extreme poverty have to be focused on women and children. Read more

The Brazilian government has announced that payments made under the Bolsa Família (Family Allowance) income-transfer programme will increase by an average of 19.4% from this month, representing a real rise of around 9% since the last adjustment in 2009. Read more

In response to the current unrest in many Arab countries, Brazil has called for protesters' freedom of expression to be respected and for all parties to choose dialogue as a non-violent means of resolving their disputes. Read more

Foreign minister Antonio Patriota recently confirmed that Brazil intends to pursue closer ties with the Arab world as part of the ongoing process of 'diversification of partnerships' that became a major feature of Brazilian foreign policy during the governments of President Lula. Read more

Brazil is succeeding in its aim of increasing the average length of stay by foreign visitors to the country – reflected by the fact that tourists' total spending in Brazil in 2010 was more than 11% higher than in 2009. Read more

Brazil will be in charge of a busy agenda as it takes up the presidency of the Security Council during February. The presidency rotates on a monthly basis among the Security Council's fifteen members. Read more

The Brazilian government's response to last month’s floods and mudslides in Rio de Janeiro state – the country's worst ever natural disaster – includes the creation of a national flood-prevention and early-warning system, and the construction of thousands of houses to be given free to those made homeless. Read more

Antonio Patriota's schedule at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland includes numerous bilateral and multilateral meetings. Read more

Unemployment in Brazil fell to 5.3% in December last year – the lowest rate since the current means of measurement was introduced in 2002. More than 2.5 million new jobs were created in 2010 and average real income was almost 4% higher than in 2009. Read more

The Brazilian federal government has opened a credit line of R$780m (US$460m) for the areas of Rio de Janeiro state hit by last week's floods and mudslides. The official death toll has risen above 800 and thousands are homeless. Bank accounts have been set up for donations to the relief effort. Read more

Brazil is grateful for the offers of aid and expressions of solidarity it has received since last week's mudslides, and is committed to international cooperation on sustainable actions aimed at reducing the risk of such disasters in future. Read more

More than 600 lost their lives in last week's floods and mudslides in the north of Rio de Janeiro state, caused by exceptionally heavy rain. Thousands have been left homeless. Bank accounts have been set up for donations to the relief effort. Read more

One year on from the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, Brazil has called for a renewal of the international commitment to reconstruction, long-term development and the consolidation of democracy in the Caribbean nation. Read more

Brazil's first female president, Dilma Rousseff, was sworn into office in Brasília on New Year's Day, receiving the presidential sash from her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In her inauguration speech she said her greatest struggle will be to 'eradicate extreme poverty'. Read more