Brazil data questions answered
The 15 questions people search most about Brazil's official figures, each answered from the body that publishes them, with a link to check the latest number yourself.
What is the population of Brazil?
Brazil's estimated resident population is 214,211,951 in 2026, according to IBGE's population estimates table (SIDRA 6579), up from 213,421,037 in the 2025 estimate. The 2022 census counted 203,080,756 people, according to IBGE's census table 4709.
The annual estimates are produced by IBGE for each state and municipality and are used, among other things, to share out federal transfers to municipalities, so they are revised and sometimes contested locally. They are projections from the last census, not a new count. The census itself is normally held every ten years; the 2022 count was delayed from 2020.
What are the income tax rates in Brazil?
From January 2026 Brazil's monthly income tax table is: no tax up to R$2,428.80, then 7.5%, 15% and 22.5% bands, and 27.5% on monthly taxable income above R$4,664.68, according to the Receita Federal's 2026 tax tables. A new monthly reduction under Law 15,191 of 2025 cuts tax to zero for taxable income up to R$5,000, and tapers off between R$5,000.01 and R$7,350.
The table is applied with a fixed deduction per band, so the effective rate is always below the top band rate. The page lists a deduction of R$189.59 per dependant and a simplified discount of up to R$607.20 a month. Annual returns use equivalent yearly figures, and the Receita updates the page when rules change.
What is the inflation rate in Brazil?
Brazil's official inflation index, the IPCA, rose 4.58% in the 12 months to September 2026, and 0.82% in September alone, according to IBGE's IPCA table (SIDRA 7060). The 12-month rate was up from 4.22% in August and compares with 5.17% in September 2025.
The IPCA measures prices for families with incomes from 1 to 40 minimum wages in the main metropolitan areas, and is the index the National Monetary Council uses for the inflation target, which the Central Bank pursues through the Selic rate. IBGE also publishes the INPC, for lower-income families, and the mid-month IPCA-15. Monthly results are released around the tenth of the following month.
How much is Brazil's public debt?
Brazil's general government gross debt was 82.87% of GDP in August 2026, according to the Central Bank of Brazil's time series (SGS series 13762), up from 82.55% in July. Net public sector debt was 69.27% of GDP (series 4513).
The gross measure (DBGG) covers the federal government, social security and state and municipal governments, and is the figure usually compared over time in Brazil. Net debt subtracts government assets such as international reserves and also covers the Central Bank and state companies. Both are published monthly in the Central Bank's fiscal statistics. The IMF uses a broader gross debt definition, so its figure is higher.
Where can I find official results of Brazil's 2026 elections?
Official results of Brazil's 2026 general election, for president, governors, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and state assemblies, are published by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on its results site, down to each municipality, electoral zone and polling section. The first round was held in October 2026; a presidential or governor run-off takes place where no candidate wins more than half of valid votes.
Results are counted from electronic ballot machines and published as each section is totalled, so early figures are partial until 100% of sections are counted. The TSE's open data portal holds full results files, candidates and campaign finance. Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by open-list proportional representation, so seat totals follow party votes, not only individual vote counts.
What is the average salary in Brazil?
Employed people in Brazil usually received an average of R$3,777 a month from all their work in June to August 2026, in real terms, according to IBGE's PNAD Contínua income table (SIDRA 6390). That was up from R$3,760 in the three months to July.
The figure covers all employed people aged 14 and over, including informal workers and the self-employed, and is the average of income usually received, adjusted for inflation. Because averages are pulled up by high earners, the median is lower. PNAD Contínua figures are rolling three-month averages from a household survey; formal-sector hiring and wages are also tracked by the Ministry of Labour's Novo Caged register.
What is Brazil's GDP growth rate?
Brazil's GDP grew 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first, after seasonal adjustment, and 2.0% compared with the second quarter of 2025, according to IBGE's quarterly national accounts (SIDRA table 5932). Growth in the first quarter was 1.1% on the previous quarter.
The quarter-on-quarter rate is seasonally adjusted; the year-on-year rate compares with the same quarter a year earlier without adjustment. IBGE revises recent quarters when new data arrive and when it publishes annual accounts. The third-quarter result is normally released in early December. For GDP in US dollars and international comparisons, the World Bank and IMF publish converted figures.
What is the minimum wage in Brazil?
Brazil's national minimum wage is R$1,621 a month in 2026, up from R$1,518 in 2025, according to the Central Bank of Brazil's time series of the minimum wage (SGS series 1619).
The minimum wage is set each year by presidential decree under a legal rule based on past inflation and GDP growth, within limits set by the fiscal framework, and usually takes effect on 1 January. It is a monthly amount for a full working month; states may set higher regional floors. Many benefits and pensions are linked to it, which is why changes affect public spending. The decree is published in the Diário Oficial da União.
What is the dollar exchange rate in Brazil today?
The US dollar was worth R$5.0096 on 13 October 2026, according to the Central Bank of Brazil's daily dollar selling rate (SGS series 1), up from R$4.9892 on 9 October. The ECB's euro reference rate the same day was R$5.6125 per euro.
The Central Bank's PTAX rate is an average of dealer quotes taken during the day and is the reference used in contracts; the rate a bank or exchange bureau offers customers includes a spread. Brazil's real floats freely. Historical rates for all currencies are on the Central Bank's exchange rate history page.
What is the Selic interest rate?
The Selic target rate is 13.75% a year, in force since 17 September 2026, according to the Central Bank of Brazil's Selic target series (SGS series 432) and its rate history. The Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) has cut the rate at each meeting since March 2026, from 15.00%, in steps of 0.25 points.
Copom meets eight times a year and publishes its statement on the evening of the decision and the minutes the following week. The Selic is the basic rate for overnight government bond operations; bank lending rates for households and companies are much higher and are published separately by the Central Bank.
What is the unemployment rate in Brazil?
Brazil's unemployment rate was 5.3% in the three months June to August 2026, the same as in May to July, according to IBGE's PNAD Contínua household survey (SIDRA table 6381).
The rate counts people aged 14 and over without work who looked for a job and were available, as a share of the labour force. It is a rolling three-month average, so compare it with the same three months a year earlier as well as the previous period. IBGE also publishes broader measures of labour underutilisation, which include people working fewer hours than they want and discouraged workers, and the informality rate.
What is the poverty rate in Brazil?
26.5% of Brazil's population lived below the poverty line used for SDG indicator 1.2.1 in 2024, down from 29.8% in 2023 and 33.7% in 2022, according to IBGE's SIDRA table 5877. Below the World Bank's international extreme poverty line, IBGE's table 5817 gives 4.7% in 2024.
Both figures come from the PNAD Contínua income data and are published in IBGE's annual Social Indicators Synthesis (SIS). Poverty rates depend heavily on the line chosen, and the World Bank revises its international lines when new price comparisons are released, so check which line and which edition a figure uses. Brazil has no single official poverty line; government programmes use their own income thresholds.
What is the life expectancy in Brazil?
Life expectancy at birth in Brazil was 76.6 years in 2024: 73.3 years for men and 79.9 years for women, according to IBGE's complete life tables for 2024. The same tables put the probability of a newborn dying before age one at about 12.3 per 1,000.
IBGE publishes the life tables each year, usually in late November. They are used by law to calculate the social security factor (fator previdenciário) for pensions, so the annual figure has direct financial effects. Life expectancy is a period measure built from that year's death rates by age.
What is the birth rate in Brazil?
Brazil's fertility rate was 1.61 births per woman in 2024 and its crude birth rate 12.1 births per 1,000 people, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators (fertility rate, read through the World Bank API, updated 8 October 2026).
A fertility rate below about 2.1 means each generation is smaller than the last without migration. National counts of births come from two official sources: IBGE's Estatísticas do Registro Civil, based on registry office records, and the Ministry of Health's SINASC live-birth system. The World Bank figures are modelled from national and UN data, so they may differ slightly from either.
What is the homicide rate in Brazil?
Brazil recorded 19.3 intentional homicides per 100,000 people in 2023, according to the World Bank's intentional homicides indicator, which is based on UN Office on Drugs and Crime data (read through the World Bank API).
Within Brazil, IPEA's Atlas da Violência publishes homicide figures by state and municipality from Ministry of Health death records, and state public security departments publish police-recorded crimes. Health records and police records count deaths differently, so national figures from different sources do not match exactly. Check the year and the source before comparing states or countries.
Source guides
- IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics)
- Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil)
- Superior Electoral Court (TSE)
- CNPJ company register (Receita Federal)
- Access to Information Law and Fala.BR (CGU)
Questions were chosen from the searches people make most about this country's figures, and each answer was written from the official page it links to, read on 14 October 2026. These answers give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.