Brazil has 11.4 mln citizens living in slums

Some 11.42 million Brazilians are living in slums, about 6 percent of the population, a report released Wednesday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said. The report shows that the percentage of Brazilians who live in shantytowns, often in precarious conditions, almost doubled in the past 20 years. Nearly half of the shantytowns are in the cities of Rio and Sao Paulo, the largest two cities in Brazil, and in Belem, in the northern region. In Belem, 54.5 percent of the population live in slums. In Rio and Sao Paulo, the figures are 22 and 11 percent respectively. The percentage of black or mixed-race citizens in slums is much higher than other ethnic groups. Slum residents are also younger at an average age of 27.9 years, as opposed to 32.7 years old outside, according to the IBGE report. Living conditions in slums are worse than in regular neighborhoods in Brazil's largest cities, but sometimes social indicators are better than in rural regions. The average per capita income, for example, is higher, reaching 370 reais (199 U.S. dollars) in slums, against 112 reais (60 U.S. dollars) in rural areas. The illiteracy rate in slums stands at 8.4 percent, twice as high as the rate registered outside slums. However, the rate is lower than the national average, which is 9.6 percent, and the average in rural areas, which is 23 percent. The report indicates that basic sanitation is still a major problem in shantytowns. Only 67.3 percent of households have adequate sanitation networks in slums, as opposed to 85.1 percent outside.