Brazil

Overview

Brazil is Latin America's largest economy, with an agricultural powerhouse, a mostly renewable electricity grid, and a consumer economy that has leapfrogged into digital finance. Instant payments and home-grown neobanks have brought banking to tens of millions of people who were once outside the system.

Companies such as Nubank have shown that Latin America can produce financial-technology champions with global ambitions, while Brazil's strengths in agribusiness and clean energy anchor its role in the world's food and energy systems.

On the rise

Digital banking, instant payments and a renewable-heavy energy mix are giving Brazil a modern financial and industrial base.