Ceara: population, economy, jobs and income

Ceara is a state of Brazil, number 8 of 27 by population. IBGE estimates the population of Ceara at 9,302,211 on 1 July 2026, 4.3% of Brazil's 214,211,951 and 8th largest of 27 federation units. That is up 0.36% on the 2025 estimate of 9,268,836 (13th slowest growth of 27; Brazil up 0.37%).

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in Ceara: The gross domestic product of Ceara was R$232.2 billion in 2023 at current prices, 2.1% of Brazil's R$10.94 trillion and 13th largest of 27. In current reais it was up 8.7% on 2022.
• Health in Ceara: Life expectancy at birth in Ceara was 77.3 years in 2024, 5th longest of the 26 states and the Federal District (Brazil: 76.6), according to IBGE estimates in its 2024 population projections.
• Education in Ceara: Schools in Ceara scored 6.8 out of 10 on the Ideb basic education index for the early primary years (grades 1 to 5) in 2025, 2nd highest of the 26 states and the Federal District (Brazil: 6.3); the score was 6.6 in 2023 and 3.2 in 2005.
• Poverty and living standards in Ceara: 43.3% of people in Ceara lived on household income below the World Bank poverty line of US$6.85 a day (PPP 2017) in 2024, about 3.99 million people; 3rd highest of the 26 states and the Federal District (Brazil: 23.1%).
• Government budget and revenue in Ceara: The Ceara state government took in R$46.0 billion in 2025, R$4,959 per resident, 2nd lowest of 27 federation units per person (all 27 combined: R$6,759). Revenue was up 16.6% on 2024 (R$39.4 billion), before adjusting for inflation (all 27 combined: up 7.5%).

How states are governed in Brazil

States (26) + Federal District. Governor and state legislative assembly directly elected for four years. Police, state schools and hospitals, state roads, courts; states create metropolitan regions.

Every tier of government in Brazil

Other states of Brazil

• Sao Paulo 46,179,008
• Minas Gerais 21,460,311
• Rio de Janeiro 17,225,410
• Bahia 14,889,472
• Parana 11,952,456
• Rio Grande do Sul 11,233,317
• Pernambuco 9,583,176
• Para 8,756,324
• Santa Catarina 8,312,759
• Goias 7,495,033
• Maranhao 7,024,557
• Amazonas 4,360,926
• Paraiba 4,182,828
• Espirito Santo 4,150,692
• Mato Grosso 3,950,330
• Rio Grande do Norte 3,463,737
• Piaui 3,392,617
• Alagoas 3,221,128
• Distrito Federal 3,009,996
• Mato Grosso do Sul 2,946,317
• Sergipe 2,307,255
• Rondonia 1,757,338
• Tocantins 1,595,994
• Acre 887,794
• Amapa 809,953
• Roraima 761,012

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Sources

• Secretaria do Tesouro Nacional (National Treasury), SICONFI: RGF 2025, 3rd quadrimester, executive branch, Annex 01: personnel spending against the Fiscal Responsibility Law limits. Bundle of the API responses for the 27 federation units (one JSON file per IBGE state code, with the request URLs in requests.txt), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 7d8f1d8fd7ea…)
• Secretaria do Tesouro Nacional (National Treasury), SICONFI: RGF 2025, 3rd quadrimester, Annex 02: consolidated debt (DC), net consolidated debt (DCL) and DCL as a share of net current revenue. Bundle of the API responses for the 27 federation units (one JSON file per IBGE state code, with the request URLs in requests.txt), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 892eae460b6e…)
• Secretaria do Tesouro Nacional (National Treasury), SICONFI: RREO 2025, 6th bimester (January-December), Annex 01: budget balance, revenue realised and expenditure committed, liquidated and paid by economic category. Bundle of the API responses for the 27 federation units (one JSON file per IBGE state code, with the request URLs in requests.txt), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 55a430977b02…)
• Secretaria do Tesouro Nacional (National Treasury), SICONFI: RREO 2025, 6th bimester, Annex 02: expenditure by function and subfunction. Bundle of the API responses for the 27 federation units (one JSON file per IBGE state code, with the request URLs in requests.txt), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0333d62c8b7d…)
• Secretaria do Tesouro Nacional (National Treasury), SICONFI: RREO 2025, 6th bimester, Annex 03: net current revenue (RCL), including ICMS, IPVA and the FPE transfer, last 12 months. Bundle of the API responses for the 27 federation units (one JSON file per IBGE state code, with the request URLs in requests.txt), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3e095292a3e1…)
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• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE): Censo Demografico 2022: SIDRA table 4714, resident population, area and population density, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 aa5f3d29b9b0…)
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• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE): Sistema de Contas Regionais: Brasil 2023, special tables 2010-2023 (table 1 GDP at current prices, table 3 chained volume index of GDP, table 7 composition of gross value added), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 948efefe5846…)
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• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE): PNAD Continua anual: SIDRA table 7435, Gini index of household income per person, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c1d74e53cf3b…)
• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE): PNAD Continua anual: SIDRA table 7531, average monthly household income per person (total, poorest 10%, richest 10%), at each year's average prices, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fbfec5f10cf3…)
• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE): Produto Interno Bruto dos Municipios 2023, table 5: share of the five municipalities with the largest GDP in each state's GDP, municipalities and population, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3a0c51d647ca…)
• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE): PNAD Continua trimestral: SIDRA table 4093, people aged 14 and over by labour force status, participation, employment, unemployment and informality rates, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 56ea7680db47…)
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• Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anisio Teixeira (INEP), Ministry of Education: Ideb 2025: results for regions and federative units (early primary, lower secondary and upper secondary, all school networks), 2005-2025, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a8ecdb2cef93…)
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• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE): Sintese de Indicadores Sociais 2025, chapter 2 tables (income distribution and poverty): Tables 2.1, 2.11, 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, 2.18, 2.20, 2.22, 2.23 (PNAD Continua 2024), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 e2084f0fca81…)

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