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How Brazil in the interior surpassed that of the capitals
Imagine a traveler touring Brazil in 1991.
He begins his journey in downtown São Paulo, a vibrant metropolis, the economic heart of the country, where commercial buildings dominate the skyline and the streets are filled with workers and engraved.
Then he heads northeast to Petrolina, in the Pernambuco hinterland, where he sees a small urban center surrounded by vast dry areas and some plantations irrigated by the São Francisco River.
Descending west, already in Mato Grosso, he finds Lucas do Rio Verde, a nascent agricultural village, which barely appears on the map, with just over 6 thousand inhabitants.
Now, imagine that same traveler retracing the route in 2022.
São Paulo, despite its gigantism, has barely grown and faces the challenges of this stagnation.
Petrolina, on the other hand, more than doubled in size, becoming a global agricultural hub.
What about Lucas from Rio Verde? It became an agribusiness powerhouse, with an average income higher than that of many capitals.
The growth of these cities not only defied expectations, but it redefined the country's own economic map.
What made some cities in the Brazilian interior grow as if they were driven by an invisible engine, while others were stagnant?
The Great Reverse March
For much of the 20th century, the history of Brazil was a story of rural exodus, millions leaving the countryside to try their lives in large cities.
São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte absorbed huge waves of migrants, mainly from the Northeast.
But at the end of the century, that logic began to reverse.
Cities such as Sinop (MT), Luís Eduardo Magalhães (BA) and Rio Verde (GO) began to grow at a pace that would make any urban planner question traditional models.
Between 2010 and 2022, 548 municipalities grew above 1.5% per year, and most of them stayed Far from the capitals.
People were moving to smaller and medium-sized cities, not out of necessity but out of opportunity.
The case of Lucas do Rio Verde is emblematic. In the 1980s, the city barely existed.
Small-scale farmers in Southern Brazil were attracted by the promise of fertile and cheap land.
At first, it was difficult - poor roads, non-existent infrastructure, but then, something changed.
The explosion in global demand for soybeans in the 2000s made Lucas do Rio Verde the epicenter of a new agricultural economy.
Today, its population is 12 times larger than it was in 1991, the average monthly wage in the city reached 2.6 minimum wages, is well above the national average.
The municipality exports soybeans and meat to dozens of countries and is home to multinational agribusiness companies.
This transformation was not an isolated case.
The city of Sinop (MT), founded in the 1970s, has quintupled its population since 1991.
Petrolina (PE), which, from being so isolated in the hinterland, was once a cangaço route, became one of the largest fruit export centers in Brazil.
The growth formula
Three main forces propelled this revolution in the interior: agribusiness, industrial decentralization and the consolidation of urban services.
Agro is POP
In the early 1990s, the Midwest region produced Less soy than the South of Brazil.
Today, the situation has been reversed. The advancement of agricultural technologies, combined with government incentives, transformed previously underused areas into true granaries of the world.
Lucas do Rio Verde, Rio Verde (GO) and Luís Eduardo Magalhães (BA) surfed this wave with perfection.
In each of these cities, the growth of agribusiness generated a production chain that attracted qualified workers, private investments, and new opportunities.
The cycle was self-fueled: more production meant more jobs, more local consumption, more infrastructure.
The impact was not restricted to the Midwest.
In the Northeast, cities such as Petrolina and Juazeiro (BA) bet on irrigated fruit growing.
Today, these cities supply European and Middle Eastern markets with high-quality mangoes and grapes.
Incomes rose, commerce flourished, and the population exploded.
The industry reaches the interior
In the years 1990 and 2000, large industries began to look for alternatives to congested metropolises. Medium-sized cities, with cheap land and tax incentives, have become attractive destinations.
Goiana (PE) it's an exemplary case.
Until 2010, it was a city of just over 70,000 inhabitants, with an economy based on the sugar-alcohol sector.
Until Fiat/Stellantis decided to build a factory there.
The impact was instantaneous: Goiana's GDP grew by more than 20% per year between 2015 and 2019, and the city rose nine places in the state economy ranking.
The rise of the interior middle class
As cities grew and incomes increased, a new phenomenon emerged: the emergence of a Robust middle class in the interior.
In the 1990s, if someone wanted to buy a car or a sophisticated appliance, they would probably have to travel to the nearest capital.
Today, cities like Marabá (PA), Dourados (MS) and Sobral (CE) are home to malls, dealerships, and universities.
These cities began to offer a quality of life comparable to that of the metropolises, without the traffic problems and violence of the capitals.
More Brazil, less São Paulo
Meanwhile, capitals face challenges. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre grew little or even shrunk.
First, because they were already saturated. The high cost of living, violence, and urban problems made large cities less attractive.
Second, because economic growth was decentralized, with jobs and investments migrating to where there was space and opportunities.
The difference is stark. While Lucas do Rio Verde and Petrolina exploded in growth, São Paulo grew by less than 20% in three decades.
Forward is what you walk
The rise of interior cities was the result of profound economic forces, strategic investments, and a new population dynamic.
This silent revolution redistributed growth and created new centers of economic power.
But this transformation comes with challenges, many of these cities grew too fast and now they must ensure that this growth is orderly.
Looking to the future, one thing is clear: Brazil today has growth vectors that point in new directions.
