Study: 18% of Brazilians default on their food bill

Food has become more expensive throughout Brazil. The accumulated increase has surpassed inflation in the last 12 months, burdening Brazilians to the point that a recent survey showed that 18% of families were in arrears due to not paying their food bills.

The research was carried out by Boa Vista Corporation. The data took into account responses to an electronic questionnaire from 1.500 Brazilians across the country. The objective of the research was to understand the factors that most impacted family budgets last year and the main reasons for debt.

defaulter paying for food

With inflation on the rise, Brazilian families are prioritizing needs, including food, housing, healthcare and other expenses that cannot be eliminated. The truth is that even the most basic costs are too high for some citizens. In fact, Boa Vista research shows that spending on food is one of the heaviest expenses for families.

According to the survey, 23% of Brazilians stopped paying several bills in the first half of this year alone. Another 18% believe that the red bill is the result of spending on food. According to the survey, this number is the highest in the last five years.

In third place is personal credit, which 15% of Brazilians default on. In addition to inflation, another cause of stress is rising unemployment, which has devastated the budgets of tens of thousands of people. For 27% of those interviewed, not having a job was the cause of the problem.

It's no wonder that income cuts are hurting Brazilians so much. And there are many more, with 24% of volunteers pointing to the main reason for accumulating debt.

Still based on the data collected, around 63% of the total respondents stated that they had three or more overdue bills. Furthermore, 86% of them said they had been in default for more than 90 years.