Brazilians are aging and this makes electric cars even more important, says study

The accelerated aging of the Brazilian population, added to the growth of the vehicle fleet, may increase the number of premature deaths linked to road transport pollution by 47% by 2050. This is what a study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) points out.

According to the survey, about 8 thousand people died prematurely in Brazil in 2024 because of pollution emitted by vehicles, which places the country in 17th position in the world ranking. In the same year, approximately 9.2 thousand new cases of childhood asthma were recorded attributed to exposure to traffic pollutants.

Why aging aggravates the problem

Older populations are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, and Brazil is aging rapidly. According to the IBGE Population Projections (2024), the share of elderly people aged 60 and over almost doubled between 2000 and 2023, jumping from 8.7% to 15.6% of the population.

The trend is accelerating: the average age of Brazilians went from 28.3 years in 2000 to 35.5 years in 2023, and is expected to reach 48.4 years in 2070, when the elderly will represent 37.8% of the inhabitants. The IBGE also projects that the country’s population will stop growing in 2041.

Which could reverse the scenario

For the ICCT, maintaining current policies means seeing mortality continue to rise. An accelerated transition to zero-emission vehicles would reduce annual deaths by 35% by 2050 and prevent about 65,200 premature deaths and 18,600 new cases of childhood asthma between 2024 and 2050.

The institute estimates that the country would need to reach 61% of sales of electric light vehicles by 2035 and 100% by 2045. Among heavy vehicles, zero-emission models should reach 54% in 2035. Today, clean trucks represent less than 0.5% of sales.