The Briefing
The Selic, the benchmark interest rate, is 13.75% after five straight 0.25-point cuts since March. Twelve-month inflation eased to 4.22%, but 5.04% of credit is more than 90 days overdue, the highest level in our series, which starts in 2015.
The Briefing · Written Oct 4, 2026 · Numbers and charts update with each release
Selic and inflation (IPCA), 12 months
% per year, last three years
Source: Central Bank of Brazil (SGS) and IBGE
The Selic went from 15.00% to 13.75% between March and September. Even after the cuts, the gap between it and 12-month inflation (13.75% minus 4.22%) is 9.53 percentage points, which keeps money expensive.
The job market remains firm, with unemployment at 5.3% in August, and GDP grew 2.0% in the second quarter from a year earlier. Gross government debt reached 82.86% of GDP in August, from 78.64% in December.
Credit
Source: Central Bank of Brazil (SGS)
In August 6.03% of household credit was more than 90 days overdue, against 5.12% in December. For companies the rate was 3.35%, from 2.70%.
See the page →Jobs
Source: IBGE, PNAD Contínua
The rate fell from 6.1% in March to 5.3% in August. Average real income was 3.7% above a year earlier.
See the page →Activity
Source: IBGE (SIDRA)
The pace sat at 1.8% for three quarters and rose in the second quarter of 2026. In 2024 it reached 4.1%.
See the page →The economy's benchmark interest rate, set by the central bank at each Copom meeting. It is the reference for every other interest rate in the country.
The share of lent money that is more than 90 days overdue. We use central bank data for the whole financial system.
Everything the general government owes, without netting what it is owed. As a share of GDP it shows the size of the debt against the size of the economy.
From the Central Bank of Brazil, IBGE and Ipea. Numbers and charts update with each official release.