Brazil is one of world’s most protectionist countries, World Bank says

Brazil has one of the world’s most protectionist economies and its integration into the external market is one of the lowest, according to the World Bank’s World Trade Indicators (WTI) report for 2008.

In the list measuring the level of openness to imports, Brazil si placed 92nd and is outperformed by countries such as China, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Russia, Bolivia and Venezuela.

At the top of the list are Hong Kong and Singapore, where there are practically no customs tariffs, and Switzerland is placed third, the United States is in 11th and the European Union in 22nd place.

In terms of trade policy, the World Bank noted that, “the Brazilian tariff scheme is more protectionist than the average for Latin America or medium income countries.”

Another problem is the non-tariff obstacles, with the World Bank finding that some sectors are still protected by the State although it said that Brazil had begun to liberalise its services sector, as was the case with telecommunications, financial services and ports and airports.