Brazil growing with small middle class

Brazil may have passed Britain to claim the No. 6 spot in the world's largest economies, but incomes per capita still lag far behind, data shows. In Britain, the per capita income is about $34,600, while in Brazil it is about $10,100, Forbes magazine reported Friday. Although income per capita has jumped from 2006, when it was $5,793, the country is still many years away from developing a strong middle class, Forbes said. The image of the average Brazilian shopping in a modern mall and resting at home in front of a wide-screen TV is still generations away, the U.N. Conference on Trade & Development predicts. By 2050, Brazil is likely to break into the Top 5 by the size of its economy. But the per capita income in Brazil in 2050 will still be less than half that of the United States, UNCTAD said.