Brazil census shows population growth at its slowest since 1872

FILE PHOTO: People walk at a popular shopping street in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 29, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Landau/File Photo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's annual population growth slowed over the past decade to its lowest since records began 150 years ago, the government statistics agency said on Wednesday, as people in one of the world's most populous countries have fewer children.

Latin America's largest nation had 203,062,512 inhabitants in August 2022, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE) said, 6.5% higher than the last census in 2010 but below the 213.3 million projected in 2021.