Despite being the eighth largest economy in the world and
the largest in Latin America, Brazil is still relatively closed
compared to other large economies. Brazil is an outlier in that its
trade penetration is extremely low, with trade at 24.1 percent of
GDP in 2017. The number of exporters relative to the population
is also very small: its absolute number of exporters is roughly the
same as that of Norway, a country with approximately 5 million
people compared to Brazil’s 200 million. While further
integrating into the global economy could threaten uncompetitive
companies and their workers, competitive businesses would most
likely benefit. Brazil’s insertion would also allow the country to
better leverage its competitive advantages, such as in natural
resource-based industries.
Idem. Ibidem (adapted).