Living in Brazil

Brazil is large and varied enough that almost any kind of working life exists somewhere within it, which is both the appeal and the complication. The money is unremarkable in the best sense, with pay near the world's middle, a real but not punishing tax bite, costs to match, and a modest amount left once the month is done. Technology is one of the surer ways in for an outsider, though the wider hiring market still rewards local connections, and English takes you only partway while Portuguese carries the rest.

Brazil's migration story has flipped toward departure. About 2.2M Brazilians now live abroad, and the diaspora has surged 56% over the past decade — one of the faster increases anywhere. The largest community by far is in the United States, home to 739K, with Japan and Spain next. At home, the foreign-born population is small for a country of 212 million, at about 1.4 million, with recent arrivals led by Venezuelans.