Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have taken to streets to demand the impeachment of the country's president Dilma Rousseff.

The right-wing protests - which took place in cities across the country - came amid frustration at the economy and a corruption scandal at Petrobras, the state run oil company.

Singing the national anthem, waving flags and chanting hundreds of thousands of people marched the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Ribeirão Preto and in São Paulo state. The Guardian reports that 50,000 are estimated to have attended the demonstration in the capital Brasilia.

The crowds chanted 'Fora Dilma' (Dilma out), with many of the demonstrators said to be middle class citizens opposing Rousseff's Workers' Party. Some demonstrators were even calling for a return to the military dictatorship that was in place in the country until the mid-1980s.

Reuters reports that centrist politician Aecio Neves said the protests marked the day Brazilians "went to the streets to reunite with their virtues, their values and also with their dreams."

Dilma Rousseff was re-elected last year, marking her second term in office.

The protests are reported to have been predominantly peaceful, in contrast to the more violent protests in the country in 2013, a year before the Brazil World Cup.