FGV study shows social legacy of the Olympic Games

Economist Marcelo Neri, of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), presented a study on the impacts of the 2016 Olympic Games in the life of Rio de Janeiro's local population during a conference held this Wednesday (4 August) at the Rio Media Center (RMC). The survey, conducted by the FGV's Social Policy Centre, shows improvements in a number of social indicators of the city when comparing data from the period prior to Rio winning the host city bid and today.

“The aim of the study was to measure the extent to which the Olympic Games impacted the lives of ordinary citizens. The general perception is that the Games have had little influence in people's lives, but research has shown that there was an improvement in most social indicators," said the economist. Advances were seen in issues such as access to housing, education, garbage collection and use of technology.

According to the survey, GDP per capita grew by 30.3% in the city between 2008 and 2016, with the Olympics fuelling Rio's good economic and social performance.

The full study can be accessed at http://cps.fgv.br/en/rio2016. The website features an interactive database as well as videos, texts and reports, all with English versions.