Rio, December 5, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The publication "Demographic Tendencies: an analysis of the results of the universe of the 2000 Demographic Census," issued today by the IBGE, indicates that in 2000 the metropolitan regions of Brazil and the Integrated Development Region of the Federal District included more than 68 million Brazilians, that is, 40.06% of the total population of the country. As for the totality of Brazilian municipalities, the majority (66.99%) registered population loss or negative growth rates. In muncipalities with more than 20 thousand inhabitants, the rates are positive, especially in those with 100-500 thousand inhabitants (3.03%).

The study points out that the dependency ratio - the number of children (0-14 years old) and elderly for every 100 potentially active people (15-64 years old) - has fallen considerably in Brazil since 1950, when it was 79.49, to 54.93 in 2000. Municipalities with over 100 thousand inhabitants present lower dependency ratios than the national average. With regard to the aging of the population, the highest indices that appear in the publication refer to muncipalities with fewer than 5 thousand inhabitants and those with more than 500 thousand. (DAS)