Since it was declared the capital of the State of Paraná in 1853, the city has gone through several major urban planning projects to avoid uncontrolled growth and thus has become an international role model in dealing with such sensitive issues as transportation and the environment. The city is the second largest car manufacturer in the country, and its economy is based on industry, commerce and services. For that reason, Curitiba is considered by many specialists of the financial sector to be the best location for investors in Brazil. At the moment, the city receives more than two million tourists every year. Most arrive via Afonso Pena International Airport, where almost sixty thousand airplanes land annually.
According to IPEA data, the GDP in 2006 at real 32 billion, without recording activities in the agriculture and livestock farming (0.03Percent) sectors. Industry represented 34.13Percent and the commerce and service sectors 65.84Percent.Cidade Industrial de Curitiba, the industrial district of Curitiba, is home to many multinational industries, such as Nissan, Renault, Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo, HSBC, Siemens, ExxonMobil, Electrolux and Kraft Foods, as well as many well known national industries, such as Sadia, O Boticário, Positivo Informática. Curitiba's infrastructure makes bus travel fast and convenient, effectively creating demand for bus use in the same way that the infrastructure of traditional cities creates demand for private motor vehicles. In July 2001, Curitiba has become the first city in the country to receive the prize "Pole of Information Technology", granted by InfoExame magazine, because the performance of their companies of technology. According to the magazine, the number of companies of "Technology and Information Technology" based in Curitiba submitted in 2001 a turnover of US 1.2 billion dollar, representing a growth of 21Percent over the previous year.
The city's 30-year economic growth rate is 7.1Percent,
