Developing Digital Brazil – Will covid-19 be an impetus for SMEs to adopt digital tools? published by Economist Impact (2021).
“Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have borne the brunt of covid-19’s economic impact in Brazil. By mid-June 2020 610,000 companies were temporarily closed and 716,000 had shut permanently. SMEs accounted for 99% of those closures and represent more than 90% of all Brazilian businesses in absolute numbers. Brazil’s SMEs also contribute about a quarter of the country’s GDP and account for more than half of all formal employment. So when they weakened, so too did the economy. Contracting GDP, by as much as 9.7% in the second quarter of 2020, forced the government to pump R1.169trn (US$233.8bn) into the economy to keep it afloat.
As at October 2021, the country reportedly endured more than 21 million covid-19 cases and about 600,000 related deaths. Lockdown measures and fear of the virus led to slumps in both supply and demand, resulting in Brazil’s sharpest recession on record…”
