International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 2020 | Page 140

The Economic Costs of Crime in Brazil
Janeiro recorded 10,599 cases of cargo theft, i.e. 883 incidents per month, or one
theft every fifty minutes. This is just above the same figure for São Paulo (10,584
cases), which has three times as many residents. The Industry Federation of the
State of Rio de Janeiro (FIRJAN) published a study entitled O impacto econômico
do roubo de cargas no estado do Rio de Janeiro (The economic impact of cargo theft
in Rio de Janeiro), 3 which reports that transporters have created a surcharge for
any trips to or from Rio de Janeiro. This so-called ‘exceptional emergency charge’
adds around 1.5 percent to the marginal price of any given product. The same
study also shows that while such crimes increased by 86 percent throughout the
country between 2011 and 2016, they shot up by 220 percent in the state of Rio
de Janeiro. According to Eduardo Eugênio, President of FIRJAN, “cargo theft has
reached levels that are shameful and unsustainable. When cargo costs go up, it's
not just companies who pay the price, but consumers as well. Public budgets are
also impacted as tax revenue shrinks.”
There have also been losses in the tourism sector. A study from the National
Federation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism 4 shows that from January
to August 2017, the state of Rio de Janeiro lost 657 million reais ($151 million),
or roughly 30 percent of tourism sector revenue. Bars and restaurants recorded a
loss of 332 million reais ($76 million), transportation companies, travel agencies,
and rental companies lost 215 million reais ($49 million), hotels, youth hostels,
and similar establishments lost ninety-seven million reais ($22 million), and other
cultural and leisure activities lost fourteen million reais ($3.2 million). With Rio
facing such a deep crisis, the federal government has been forced to enact unprecedented
public safety measures, and presidential decree No. 9288 called for federal
intervention and the appointment of two generals to oversee operations until December
2018.
While Rio de Janeiro may be a unique and dramatic example, the report
Custos econômicos da criminalidade no Brasil (Economic costs of crime in Brazil) 5
published by the Strategic Affairs Secretariat of the Presidency, reports that crime
reduces the country's gross domestic product by 4.38 percent, broken down as
follows: additional public safety spending (1.35 percent), private security spending
(0.94 percent), insurance and material losses (0.8 percent), legal fees (0.58 percent),
loss of production capacity (0.40 percent), incarceration costs (0.26 percent
3 O impacto econômico do roubo de cargas no estado do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro: Publicações
Sistema FIRJAN, 2017). Available at: https://www.firjan.com.br/lumis/portal/file/fileDownload.jsp?
fileId=2C908A8A5A4752C8015A47652E540B05
4 Violência impôs perda de R$ 657 milhões ao turismo do RJ em 2017 (Rio de Janeiro: Contributions
of the commerce, service and tourism for the sustainable development, 2017). Available at: http://
www.cnc.org.br/editorias/economia/pesquisas/pesquisa-sobre-impacto-da-violencia-no-turismodo-estado-do-rio-de
5 Secretaria de Assuntos Estratégicos. Custos econômicos da criminalidade no Brasil (Brasília, 2018).
Available at: https://www.gov.br/secretariageral/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/publicacoes/publica
coes-e-analise/relatorio-de-conjuntura/custos_economicos_criminalidade_brasil.pdf/view
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