BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH SDG 8

Since the adoption of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, Brazil has struggled to implement SDG 8. Brazil’s economic growth has been sluggish over the course of the past decade, and progress in the area of decent work for all has been too little and too slow, as the country still reckons with child labour and insufficient protection of fundamental labour rights (Sachs et al., 2025). However, the end of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought some relief and optimism, as progress in the area of economic growth and decent work for all has accelerated during the last few years (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs [UNDESA], n.d.). If SDG 8's targets are to be achieved before the turn of the current decade, as envisioned by the UN’s 2030 Agenda, the recent progress made needs to be accelerated even further by effectively addressing the fundamental issues plaguing the Brazilian labour market.

CURRENT CHALLENGES AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Brazil is currently struggling on multiple fronts in the area of economic growth and decent work for all. On the economic front, Brazil’s real GDP per capita remained virtually unchanged between 2016 and 2022, interrupting decades of promising economic growth (General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil [GSPRB], 2024, pp. 162-163, UNDESA, n.d.). Despite this lack of progress over the first few years of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, Brazil has managed to sustain some economic growth after 2022, reaching a 3% growth rate in real GDP per capita in 2024 and reigniting optimism regarding the country’s ability to achieve SDG 8’s targets (UNDESA, n.d.). However, Brazil’s economy remains plagued by structural problems that risk compromising the sustained economic growth the country has managed to maintain over the last few years. As stressed by Renzcherchen et al. (2025), much of the Brazilian economy remains concentrated in the hands of national and regional oligopolies that fuel severe economic inequalities and make the Brazilian economy less efficient overall (p. 7). The poorest strata of Brazil’s population remain neglected, stifling the prospects for long-term sustainable development.

On the front of decent work for all, the Brazilian labour market has managed to stabilise after the turbulent years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had seen a tragic deterioration of almost all of SDG 8’s indicators (Civil Society Working Group for the 2030 Agenda [CSWG 2030A], 2022, pp. 41-45). Although some marginal improvements have occurred over the last three years, significant issues hindering the achievement of decent work for all remain, most tragically in the area of child labour, with an estimated 4.9% of Brazilian children still subject to child labour in 2022 (GSPRB, 2024, p. 168). In this regard, little progress has been made over the last decade. In 2016, the same figure was only marginally higher (5.2%), and the COVID-19 pandemic made it even more difficult to make progress on this front (GSPRB, 2024, p. 168). As part of the savings measures implemented to address the economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brazilian government slashed expenditures for the national Child Labour Eradication Programme Fund by 95% between 2019 and 2021, severely weakening the national fight against child labour (CSWG 2030A, 2022, p. 44). Therefore, substantial work is still required to implement SDG 8’s Target 8.7: End Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Child Labour in particular. 

Moreover, although employment prospects have improved at the aggregate level, with the total unemployment rate falling to 6.8% in 2024 from its 13.7% peak in 2020, significant effort is still required to improve working conditions and enhance the educational and professional prospects of Brazilian youth. Progress in the area of labour rights compliance has stalled over the past three years and a whopping 19.31% of the country’s youth were estimated not to be in education, employment or training in 2024 (UNDESA , n.d.).

LIST OF REFERENCES AND USEFUL LINKS

Civil Society Working Group for the 2030 Agenda. (2022). 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Spotlight Report 2022 Brazil Synthesis. https://gtagenda2030.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/en_sr_2022_final_web-1.pdf

General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil. (2024). VNR 2025; Voluntary National Review - Brazil. United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. https://hlpf.un.org/sites/default/files/vnrs/2024/VNR%202024%20Brazil%20Report_0.pdf

Renzcherchen, A. T., Stefani, S. R., & Tribeck, P. M. (2025). The Sustainable Development Goals in Brazil: Challenges and Setbacks in the Brazilian Shadow Report (Relatório Luz) and the Role of Higher Education Institutions. SDGs Studies Review, 6(studies). https://doi.org/10.37497/sdgs.v6istudies.27

Sachs, J. D., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., & Iablonovski, G. (2025). Sustainable Development Report 2025: Financing Sustainable Development to 2030 and Mid-Century. Dublin University Press. https://doi.org/10.25546/111909

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). SDG Country Profile: Brazil. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/countryprofiles/BRA