IBGE has released the second volume of the collection History of the Brazilian Statistics, entitled Legal Statistics (c.1889 - c.1936), by Nelson Senra ¹. The collection, which has four volumes, presents detailed information about the 180 years of the history of the statistical activity in Brazil, from 1822 to 2002. This second volume focuses on the attempts at the consolidation of the national statistical activity through legislation (intense and varied), as a way to overcome the exaggerated federalism which occurred in the first few years after the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic. It also shows the process of creation of the National Institute of Statistics, which was soon renamed as IBGE. The institution started its activities in May, 1936, replacing the General Department of Statistics (DGE), a statistical agency from the Empire years, recreated in the Republic as one of the first acts of this temporary government.  

The second volume of the History of Brazilian Statistics will be launched on March 07 (Wednesday), at 6:30 pm, at Livraria da Travessa, at 44, Rio Branco Av., downtown Rio de Janeiro. The publication will be sold at the IBGE virtual shop  (www.ibge.gov.br

) and in the book shops in the states which have IBGE offices. 

When the Brazilian Republic was proclaimed, in 1989, the temporary government immediately restored the General Department of Statistics (DGE), the official statistical agency in the country during the Empire period. This way, it reaffirmed the hope for the production of desired statistics, essential to the work of the Brazilian government.   

The first decade of the new regime, however, has brought the interruption of public routine; and the excesses of administrative decentralization sacrificed national interests, among which the strengthening of statistics. With the end of the centralized power of the king, federative units became more powerful. Big states, especially, made decisions as they pleased; this was not different in relation to statistics.                  

The actions of DGE were ignored, even those relating to the constitutional premise of having a census every ten years. The information deficiencies, a consequence of the resistance and silence of the states, became the vulnerable point of the statistical agency. However, the civil register data had a fundamental role in the beginning of the republic, despite their weaknesses.

The temporary republican government determined the conduction of the 1890 Census, according to the monarchic legislation. That  confused years were not proper for this type of initiative, though, and the results were bad – the census was considered a failure. The Republican Constitution (1891) determined the conduction of censuses every ten years. In 1900, however, it situation was even worse than before; in 1910, it did not happen, and the same happened in 1930. 

The only really effective overall census in this period was conducted in 1920, when Bulhões de Carvalho was the director of the institute. The results of this census were displayed in the Statistics Pavilion, called “Pavilion of the Science of Truth”, in the “Exhibition of the 100^th Anniversary of Independence” (1992). The exhibition was a landmark in the history of the republic.  

The end of the First Republic and the reformation of the State, in the Getúlio Vargas regime, put an end to the federation and strengthened the institutions. From there appeared solutions to problems existing so far. After 1930, there was a revolution in the statistical activity: Teixeira de Freitas and his partner Juarez Távora started to dominate this scenario.  From this combination of knowledge and power was created, in 1934, the National Institute of Statistics, which was soon renamed as IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). It started its activities on May 29, 1936, with Macedo Soares as President.

In general terms, this is the history told in the second volume of History of the Brazilian Statistics, in six parts and 30 richly illustrated chapters – some of which have been written by Marco Aurélio Martins Santos. At the end, there is a summary of the content, with two timelines: one connecting this theme to the history of Brazilian Republic and the other showing the evolution of statistics itself. The publication includes a bibliography and indexes by subject and by name, which facilitate the access and recovery of information. It also makes available a CD-ROM which contains, besides the text, the complete list of reports and the legislation of the period approached.

The first volume of History of Brazilian Statistics, desired Statistics (1822–1889) covers the Empire years, which was characterized by several attempts at building statistical knowledge in the country, and shows the first attempts at conducting a census, in 1852, and the first and very successful national census, 20 years later. Still this year, IBGE will launch the third volume of this collection: Organized Statistics (1936-1972), and, in 2008, the last volume, Formalized Statistics (1972-2002).  It is a consistent survey for those who wish to know the slow and difficult construction of Brazilian statistics.

To obtain additional information or schedule interviews, contact the IBGE Communications Department, by telephone: (21) 2142-4506/ 4651/ 0986/ 0985 or by e-mail 

comunica@ibge.gov.br.

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¹ Nelson Senra is a researcher at IBGE and a professor in the Master’s Program at the National School of Statistical Sciences, in which he teaches Sociology Statistics. He is a PhD in Information Science (ECO/UFRJ), a Master in Economics (EPGE/FGV) and an Economist (UCAM).