iFood moves 0.53% of Brazilian GDP, according to Fipe

The iFood ecosystem moved, directly and indirectly, R$ 97 billion in gross production value in the year 2022, impacting 0.53% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reveals a survey carried out by the company at the request of Fipe (Economic Research Institute Foundation), specialized in the analysis of economic and social phenomena in the country and the development of indicators.

The study measures the socioeconomic importance of iFood taking into account the initial, direct, indirect and induced effects (due to the increase in income provided by iFood orders from partner stores, delivery drivers and employees, among others). 

This means that these R$ 97 billion are not concentrated in iFood, but rather distributed among the various sectors involved in the value chain based on orders in restaurants, markets, pharmacies and pet shops through the app.

As a platform that mediates the delivery of meals and purchases, iFood has a multiplier effect on the economy that generates work and income not only for restaurants and delivery people, but also for many other sectors — from food and commerce to systems development and other information services, according to the research.

Who wins with iFood

iFood's chief economist, Erica Diniz Oliveira, explains the multiplier effect of iFood on the economy by giving the example of buying a hamburger on the app. This request has an initial effect — the purchase generates revenue for the establishment —, but it doesn’t stop there.

This sale also causes other effects on the economy. The direct and indirect impacts impact sectors related to the production and transportation of hamburgers, such as livestock farming, the purchase of ingredients, transportation, the employment of the cook and the consumption of gasoline from the delivery man's motorcycle.

The induced effects are those generated by the increase in income of restaurants, stores, delivery drivers and other sectors (such as the purchase of a new refrigerator for the hamburger restaurant or a lunch with the family on the weekend or home renovation). 

In this way, for every R$ 1,000 that is spent by customers on purchases in the iFood app, another R$ 1,385 is added to the country's economy, according to Fipe. And for every R$ 1,000 of taxes generated by purchases on iFood, an additional R$1,127 is collected from the rest of the economy.  

“As a Brazilian technology company, iFood is a vector of development that creates jobs, collects taxes and moves the economy in all regions of the country”, says Erica. “This highlights the impact of the platform economy and the intermediation model, which seeks to create connections between supply and demand in a win-win logic.”

How iFood creates jobs

Regarding the generation of jobs, the Fipe study points out that in 2022 more than 873 thousand direct and indirect jobs (that is, considering the entire value chain involved) were generated by iFood activities, which corresponds to 0.871 TP3T of the employed population in the year. 

The research shows the multiplier effect of iFood also in this area: for every 100 direct jobs, 68 additional jobs are created in our economy. Among the most impacted sectors are food, wholesale trade, livestock, education and private health and the manufacture of clothing and accessories, for example.

The jobs account includes all those impacted by iFood's activities, which also includes the activity of delivery men and women. 

As the positions generated do not imply full-time work On the platform, Fipe aggregated data regarding the delivery drivers' journey to create the equivalent of a job, called EHA (Man-Year Equivalents) — the same was done for all professional activities involved in all impacted sectors.

According to this measure, a job corresponds to the working day of an adult, eight hours a day, for 200 days a year. As the EHA can represent more than one worker, data from workers, including delivery drivers, were aggregated to compose this EHA — especially since delivery drivers can work less than 8 hours a day and 200 days a year.

The effect of delivery drivers’ income

Fipe's research also reveals that the total gross income of delivery men and women who work on the iFood platform was R$ 2.8 billion in 2022. 

Considering the total gross income paid by iFood to delivery people, these gains generated a multiplier effect of R$ 7.9 billion in goods and services produced in the country (directly or indirectly).

This is without considering the impact of the earnings of delivery people from the establishments themselves, not intermediated by the platform, who carry out 61% of deliveries transacted on the iFood platform. 

“If we consider the entire delivery sector driven by orders made on the app, delivered through the platform and also directly by establishments, the effect is potentially much greater than the R$ 7.9 billion”, adds Erica.

According to the research, for every R$ 1,000 received by delivery people (from iFood and other sources of income), another R$ 1,210 were generated in the economy, considering direct, indirect and induced effects.

This multiplier effect on delivery drivers' income was greater in the Federal District, where, for every R$ 1,000 received by these professionals, another R$ 1,560 was added to the economy. 

The same R$ 1,000 adds R$ 1,430 to the economy in Recife, R$ 1,420 to Fortaleza and R$ 1,390 to Belém, according to the research. In Rio de Janeiro, this increase was R$ 1,300, and in São Paulo, R$ 1,180. 

Between October 2021 and September 2022, more than 537 thousand delivery men and women used iFood and used the application as a source of income at some point, according to Fipe. Of these, around 212 thousand were active per month (making at least one delivery). 

Working with the iFood platform is, in most cases, a supplement to income and an occasional occupation: in this 12-month period, the average period of activity for delivery men and women was 4.7 months. 

And without iFood, what would it be like?

To better understand the systemic impact on the income of couriers connected to the platform (without considering the establishments' couriers), Fipe carried out a simulation between two groups of professionals: a real one — made up of couriers who work with iFood and who may also have other sources of income — and a fictitious one, with the same characteristics, but which would not work with the app and would only be in the traditional market.

The extra income of “real” couriers, who have the alternative of also working with iFood, considering the total number of couriers on the platform, would be responsible for an increase of R$ 2.9 billion in the value of goods and services produced in the Brazilian economy , per year — taking into account the initial, direct, indirect and induced effects. 

“In other words, by isolating the effect of iFood, we can say that the economy would have a negative impact of almost R$ 3 billion if deliveries via the platform were not an alternative income for delivery people and they were only in the traditional market, as in the fictional scenario ”, explains Erica. 

The research brings another interesting result: the remuneration of delivery men and women brings greater local internalization of income, especially in metropolitan regions, leveraging the development of these regions — compared to that of similar professionals who do not deliver with iFood. 

On average, almost half of the impact of this income (46%) occurs locally, and reaches 58.4% in regions such as São Paulo. 

“Local internalization corresponds to the income that circulates in the region of origin of the resource, such as, for example, the amounts consumed in the neighborhood bakery or restaurant, compared to the amount that goes to the production chain in other states. In the case of delivery people, this local effect is proportionally greater, compared to professionals outside the platform”, says Erica.