In 2030, Brazil is expected to have 237,7 million inhabitants, a growth of 39,6% of the population. The projection is of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). based on the Demographic Census that took place in 2000.
According to the IBGE, the country has today about 180 million inhabitants.
In spite of the expected population growth, Brazil registered a fall of the birth rate, something common to countries going through a process of population aging.
Brazil’s Ministry of Cities has just released a diagnosis of water and sewer services in Brazil. According to the survey, 95.3% of urban residences have running water.
The situation is quite different when it comes to sewage collection and treatment. Only half the houses have sewage collection and in only 28.2% of the cases does the sewage pass through treatment.
In an attempt to reverse this situation, the Minister of Cities, Olívio Dutra, said that in the last two years the federal government has spent over US$ 2.3 billion (6 billion reais), 14 times the amount disbursed in the previous ten-year period.
“To complete the task of sanitation in the country, we will need to invest US$ 68.9 billion (178 billion reais) over the next 20 years,” Dutra affirmed.
Dutra said that this investment can also be made by private enterprise through the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP’s). In 2005 the Ministry of Cities is expected to allocate another US$ 2.3 billion (6 billion reais) to the area of sanitation.
ABr