Is Brazil a third-world country?

Calling Brazil a third-world country is misleading as a description of its present economic classification. The World Bank places Brazil in its upper-middle-income group, rather than a category called third world.

The expression belongs to an older framework associated with Cold War political divisions and poorer countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Getty's geographic thesaurus describes it as a formerly used term. This historical vocabulary is not equivalent to today's income classifications.

Brazil's income category does not measure every aspect of development or describe every household's circumstances. World Bank researchers caution that broad labels conceal major differences between countries. A specific indicator or classification is more informative than treating third world as a precise contemporary status.