Overview of Brazil

Data and context to understand the country’s challenges and what needs to improve.

Proposals under discussion

This page brings together indicators from different periods. Consult the notes on sources and limitations when comparing figures. It does not provide real-time monitoring.

View corrections from 24/10/2026 and report an error.

Work, Productivity and the Business Environment

Productivity, income and the rules shaping work and the business environment.

Economic freedom: the 2025 index

In the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom 2025, Brazil scored 55.1/100 points and ranked 117th among 176 ranked countries, in the ‘mostly unfree’ category. The edition examines policies and conditions from July 2023 to June 2024. The ten positions immediately above Brazil: • 116th: Dominica, 55.3. • 115th: Kyrgyzstan, 55.6. • 114th: Djibouti, 55.7. • 113th: Ecuador, 55.8. • 112th: Ghana, 56.0. • 111th: Türkiye, 56.1. • 110th: Gabon, 56.3. • 109th: Solomon Islands, 56.3. • 108th: Senegal, 56.4. • 107th: Eswatini, 56.4. The result follows this index's components and criteria. It is not a ranking of democracy or of all civil liberties.

Tax bureaucracy

In the standardised Doing Business 2020 case, the annual time needed to meet tax obligations was: • Brazil: 1,501 hours • OECD high-income economies: 158.8 hours The survey covers 2018 and considers a medium-sized company in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This is a historical reference, not the current average for all Brazilian businesses.

ICMS, ISS and the tax transition

ICMS falls within the jurisdiction of the states and the Federal District. ISS falls within the jurisdiction of municipalities and the Federal District. Both follow national complementary laws as well as each jurisdiction's legislation. Rates, credits, benefits and obligations depend on the tax and the transaction. Counting federative entities is not the same as counting taxes or rules in force. Under the transition provided for in the consumption tax reform, ICMS and ISS will be gradually reduced from 2029 to 2032 and replaced by IBS in 2033. In 2026 they remain in force; testing IBS and CBS does not abolish them.

Productivity per hour worked

In 2023, Brazil's output per hour worked was around 23.9% of the United States level, calculated using Penn World Table 11.0. The comparison divides output-side GDP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), by total hours worked. It uses the same edition, year and variables for both countries. This aggregate result also depends on capital, technology and the organisation of production. It does not measure individual dedication or establish how many hours one person needs to work to produce as much as another.

Businesses: registration, disputes and deregistration

Registration: Mapa de Empresas reports an average of 22 hours in September 2026 for feasibility and registration stages, excluding MEIs. The calculation excludes waiting for action by the user, weekends and national holidays; it does not measure the entire journey to becoming operational. The series changed with the new CNPJ process in December 2025. Disputes: in the standardised Doing Business 2020 case, with data collection completed in May 2019, the figures were 731 days in São Paulo and 911 in Rio, including enforcement and assuming no appeal. This is a historical reference. Deregistration: according to Receita Federal, debts and missing returns do not by themselves prevent CNPJ deregistration. Tax liabilities may remain.

Taxes and concentration of revenue

In Receita Federal's data for 2024, IR, ICMS, IPI, PIS/Pasep, Cofins and ISS total R$ 2.38 trillion out of total tax revenue of R$ 3.78 trillion: around 63%. The calculation uses the six aggregates without double-counting Income Tax components. The edition excludes FGTS and Sistema S contributions from the tax burden. The number of taxes, number of rules and ancillary obligations are different measures. A national count must state which taxes, fees and contributions it includes; the approximate figure of 90 was not validated in this review.

Unemployment (IBGE definition)

In PNAD Contínua, unemployment covers people aged 14 or over who had no job in the reference week, were available to start work and had looked for work during the 30-day reference period. There is an exception: those who had already secured a job starting later may also be classified as unemployed, even without searching during that period, if they were available. The rate uses the labour force as its denominator: employed and unemployed people. Discouragement and underutilisation have their own indicators.

Minimum wage and conversion to dollars

Amount in force since January 2026: R$ 1,621 per month. To compare two complete periods, we use the monthly minimum wage in force and the average of the Central Bank's daily dollar selling rates in December: • December 2005: R$ 300, equivalent to around US$ 131, at an average of R$ 2.2855 per dollar. • December 2025: R$ 1,518, equivalent to around US$ 278, at an average of R$ 5.4531 per dollar. These are nominal exchange-rate conversions. They do not measure real gains in purchasing power in Brazil, which require accounting for inflation.

Unions: April 2025 register

CNES/MTE: active registrations on 14/04/2025 • Workers: 12,056 unions. • Employers: 5,317 unions. • Total: 17,373 unions, with no duplicate CNPJs. The count includes only union-level bodies, excluding federations, confederations and central organisations. Active status is an administrative registration status; it does not measure actual activity, representation or the quality of bargaining. Other countries' registers may count different organisational levels. Their totals do not by themselves form a comparable ranking.

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Corruption, Justice and Regulatory Complexity

Perceptions of corruption, case processing and the production of rules: distinct measures for examining institutions.

Perceptions of corruption: CPI 2024

In Transparency International's CPI 2024, Brazil scored 34/100 points and ranked 107th among 180 countries and territories. This was Brazil's lowest score in the comparable 2012–2024 series. Scores for the ten comparators in the same edition: • Colombia: 39. • Indonesia: 37. • India: 38. • Tanzania: 41. • China: 43. • South Africa: 41. • Ghana: 42. • Morocco: 37. • Senegal: 45. • Botswana: 57. The index combines experts' and businesspeople's perceptions of public-sector corruption. A higher score indicates less perceived corruption. It is not a crime count; small differences require consideration of the estimates' uncertainty.

Rule of law

In the WJP Rule of Law Index 2026, published on 21 October, Brazil ranked 76th among 143 countries and jurisdictions. In Latin America and the Caribbean, it ranked 16th among 32. The release reports that Brazil's score increased compared with the previous edition. Ranking position and change in score are different measures. The index combines dimensions of the rule of law. Its aggregate result does not replace examination of rights, checks and the functioning of the justice system.

Litigation and the stock of pending cases

The CNJ's Justiça em Números 2024 report covers 2023 in the courts surveyed, excluding the STF and CNJ: • 83.8 million cases pending at year-end, including suspended and provisionally archived cases. • 35.3 million new cases, of which 22.6 million were first-time entries, excluding appeals and judicial enforcement proceedings. • 70.5% gross congestion: the proportion pending in the total of pending and closed cases during the period. • Tax enforcement: 31% of pending cases. Congestion does not indicate the probability that a new case will finish in the same year. Stock, inflow, closure and processing time answer different questions.

Production of rules: the 2024 survey

In its study marking 36 years of the Constitution, published in 2024, IBPT reports more than 7.8 million rules issued since 1988, of which 517,388 concern tax matters. These are figures published by the institute. The complete catalogue of acts and its consolidation rules were not audited in this review. Rules issued are not equivalent to rules still in force or to new taxes. Assessing complexity also requires examination of content, amendments, repeals and the obligations applicable to each activity.

Special jurisdiction for public officials

Jurisdiction by virtue of public office determines which court tries certain officials. The Constitution assigns specific powers to courts, as in Articles 102 and 105. The international comparison of numbers remains under review. The figures previously brought together have not been confirmed for the same date and equivalent legal criteria. A comparison must identify which offices, proceedings and rules are counted. A number alone does not demonstrate impunity or allow countries to be ranked by the quality of their justice systems.

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Education: learning, resources and pathways

Basic learning, remaining in school and resources per pupil need to be assessed together.

Government spending per student

Annual spending per student, reference year 2023 International dollars (PPP), per full-time-equivalent student. • Primary education: Brazil US$ 4,064; OECD average US$ 12,893. • Lower secondary education: Brazil US$ 4,390; OECD average US$ 14,291. The scope covers government funding of public and private institutions. The average includes exceptions to the reference year, such as the United States in 2022. Resources alone do not explain differences in learning.

PISA 2022 – Brazil and the OECD

Average proficiency scores in 2022, in points Mathematics: Brazil 379; OECD 472. Reading: Brazil 410; OECD 476. Science: Brazil 403; OECD 485. In mathematics, 27% of Brazilian students reached at least proficiency level 2, compared with the OECD average of 69%. At this level, they can recognise how to represent a simple situation mathematically. These are results for 15-year-old students in PISA 2022. The difference in points is not converted here into years of schooling.

Functional illiteracy: INAF 2024

In 2024, 29% of people aged 15 to 64 were classified at INAF's illiterate or rudimentary levels, with difficulties in everyday reading and numeracy tasks. Among people aged 15 to 29, estimates were 14% in 2018 and 16% in 2024. The 2024 edition reports an estimated sampling margin of 3 percentage points for this age group. A fluctuation of 2 points alone does not demonstrate a worsening trend.

IDEB 2025: public schools

Scores from 0 to 10, by stage • Primary education: 6.1 (5.7 in 2023). • Lower secondary education: 5.0 (4.7 in 2023). • Upper secondary education: 4.3 (4.1 in 2023). The index combines Saeb performance and school pass rates. Each stage involves different students: comparing these scores does not measure learning loss by the same pupils as they progress through school.

Pathways and upper secondary completion

Cohort of entrants followed by the OECD Brazilian reference year: 2023, in Education at a Glance 2026. By two years after the expected duration of upper secondary education: • 79% had completed it; • 1% were still enrolled without completing; • 20% had neither completed nor remained enrolled. The scope excludes those who attended EJA and four-year programmes. Non-enrolment within this window does not establish permanent dropout; the denominator is also not the entire youth population.

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Health: a Universal SUS and the Funding Challenge

Resources, care infrastructure and outcomes are distinct dimensions of the challenge of ensuring universal access.

Health: spending per person

Annual current health expenditure International dollars (PPP), per person. • Brazil: US$ 2,070 in 2023. • OECD average: US$ 6,097 in 2024. The amounts include public and private financing. They refer to different years and do not represent only the SUS budget.

Health: financing and coverage plans

Shares of current health expenditure, Brazil, 2023 • Government and compulsory contributory schemes: 44.1%. • Voluntary schemes and households' direct payments: 55.9%. Medical coverage plans, August 2026 ANS recorded 53.2 million enrolments. One person may have more than one enrolment; this count cannot establish how many people depend on SUS.

Health: hospital beds

Beds per thousand inhabitants • Brazil: 2.52 in 2021. • OECD average: 4.17 in 2024. The indicator includes public and private beds for acute and long-term care. The years differ. Beds are only one care resource: staffing, occupancy and geographical distribution also determine the capacity to provide care.

Life expectancy and infant mortality

Life expectancy at birth • Brazil: 76.0 years in 2024, in the international series. • OECD average: 81.3 years, reference year 2024 or latest available. Deaths before reaching 1 year of age • Brazil: 12.3 deaths per thousand live births in 2024. • OECD average: 3.8 per thousand, reference year 2024 or latest available. These are the values from the 2026 international comparison. They describe population health without isolating the effect of the health system.

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Public safety: violence, records and the public response

Deaths, recorded crimes, imprisonment and budgets, with identified periods and coverage.

Homicides in Brazil: health records (2024)

Atlas da Violência 2026 records 42,590 deaths in 2024, a rate of 20.1 per 100 thousand inhabitants. The Mortality Information System scope combines assaults, legal interventions and operations of war, by the victim's federative unit of residence. Robbery resulting in death: the 2026 Yearbook reports 807 victims recorded by police in 2025. This number must not be added to the Atlas total: the source, classification and period differ.

Intentional homicide: Brazil, the Americas and the world (2024)

UNODC rates per 100 thousand inhabitants, in 2024: Brazil: 18.7 Americas: 14.0 World: 5.1 Brazil's rate is around 3.6 times the global estimate; the calculation uses unrounded values. World and continental aggregates include estimates for gaps in the data. UNODC uses a different definition of intentional homicide and a different reference population from the Atlas; the two series are not interchangeable.

Homicides in six countries of the Americas (2024)

Intentional homicides per 100 thousand inhabitants, in the same UNODC edition: Brazil: 18.7 Ecuador: 38.9 Haiti: 64.3 Honduras: 23.9 Jamaica: 40.4 Mexico: 25.6 This selection does not cover every country in the Americas or constitute a world ranking. Coverage and the classification of national records may vary; the rates do not classify a country as being at war.

Recorded vehicle robberies and thefts (2025)

The 2026 Yearbook brings together 104,491 robberies and 203,949 thefts of vehicles in 2025: 308,440 incidents, around 845 per day. São Paulo recorded 112,358 incidents, or 36.4% of the total. Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Bahia complete the five highest absolute volumes. The unit is a police-recorded incident. The total does not identify unique vehicles or summarise other property crimes; absolute volumes also do not measure individual risk in each state.

Recorded rape and rape of vulnerable persons (2025)

The 2026 Yearbook reports 84,388 recorded victims of completed rape and rape of vulnerable persons in 2025. The category of rape of vulnerable persons accounts for 64,990 victims. The source acknowledges overlap between categories and differences in recording across states. These are police records of those offences, not an estimate of every episode of sexual violence. The total alone does not justify applying a fixed multiplier to calculate underreporting.

Homicide clearance: incidents from 2023

Across the 17 federative units with sufficient data, the 8th edition of Instituto Sou da Paz's Onde Mora a Impunidade estimated that 36% of completed intentional homicides committed in 2023 had led to criminal charges by the end of 2024. There were 8,773 incidents with charges among 24,195 recorded. Ten states were excluded from the calculation. The criterion requires at least one perpetrator to have been charged by the Public Prosecutor's Office. A charge is not a conviction; the indicator also does not reveal later case outcomes outside this window.

Police intervention and police officer deaths (2025)

According to the 2026 Yearbook, 6,602 victims of deaths resulting from police intervention were recorded in 2025. The same edition reports 139 serving civil and military police officers killed by intentional lethal violent crimes, on or off duty. This scope excludes suicides and road accidents. These are distinct indicators. The totals do not determine the legality of individual interventions or establish Brazil's position in an international ranking.

Physical cells, capacity and provisional detention (31/12/2025)

RELIPEN records 727,895 people in physical cells in the state, Federal District and federal prison systems, against 506,307 places on 31 December 2025. The ratio of these totals is 143.8% occupancy. Within the same group, 205,925 people were classified as provisionally detained, or 28.3%. The calculation excludes house arrest and detention facilities belonging to other bodies. The aggregate average does not describe occupancy in each establishment or measure conditions for rehabilitation.

Firearms: deaths and seizures

Atlas da Violência 2026 records 29,870 firearm homicides in 2024: 70.1% of the 42,590 homicides within the study's scope. This firearm death count includes assaults and legal interventions. For state institutions' records, the 2026 Yearbook reports 108,786 firearms seized in 2025. Seizures do not measure the stock of weapons in circulation, and these totals neither attribute homicides to criminal factions nor identify the weapons' origins by themselves.

Committed public safety expenditure (2025)

The 2026 Yearbook totals R$ 163.1 billion committed under the Public Safety Function in 2025 by the federal government, states, Federal District and municipalities, in December 2025 reais. This is equivalent to around R$ 764.30 per person, using IBGE's population estimate for 1 July 2025. The total follows the Yearbook's adjustments, including the exclusion of R$ 8.9 billion in Minas Gerais pension expenditure reported under this function. A commitment is not a payment, and the amount alone does not measure the effectiveness of public safety policies.

Criminal groups: prisons and territorial control

In the presentation of Mapa ORCRIM 2024, Senappen reports at least 88 groups affecting the prison system during the three years covered by the survey. This does not mean 88 factions with nationwide reach. For the inhabited urbanised areas of metropolitan Rio de Janeiro in 2024, GENI/UFF and Instituto Fogo Cruzado estimate 4.0 million residents in areas under armed control or influence, or 34.9% of the population in the study's base. Of that total, 3.4 million were in controlled areas and around 604 thousand in areas under influence. Influence means partial or intermittent activity. This regional mapping does not justify extrapolating these figures to Brazil.

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Mobility and Logistics: Roads, Integration and Performance

Maintaining roads and integrating transport modes are parts of the same logistical challenge.

Roads surveyed

CNT Road Survey 2025: 62.1% of the 114,197 km of paved roads assessed were rated fair, poor or very poor overall. The survey covers the paved federal network and the main state roads. The classification combines pavement, signage and road geometry; it does not describe every road in the country.

Freight modal split, 2017 scenario

The 2017 calibration scenario of PNL 2035, measured in net tonne-kilometres (TKU), a measure combining weight and distance: 66.2% road; 17.7% rail; 9.2% coastal shipping and 5.6% inland waterways. Pipelines and air transport complete the total. It covers domestic freight and the Brazilian legs of foreign trade.

Metro systems: Rio de Janeiro and Shanghai

The montage brings together diagrams of two cities labelled 1993 and 2016, an interval of 23 years. Rio also expanded its network, including Line 4 in 2016. Shanghai opened its first line in May 1993; the empty panel does not represent that entire year. Without an identified source for the maps and a common scale, the image measures neither network length nor national performance.

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Water and Sanitation: Access, Treatment and Investment

Expanding coverage requires considering service quality and continuity, as well as the presence of networks.

Water supply network

In SINISA 2025, reference year 2024, 84.1% corresponds to 174.0 million people served, out of 206.8 million residents in 5,144 municipalities in the water dataset. The indicator measures network coverage. On its own, it does not establish potability, continuity or the adequacy of all forms of water supply.

Sewerage network

In SINISA 2025, reference year 2024, the consolidated figures report 62.3%: 117.3 million people served out of 188.3 million residents in 3,903 municipalities in the sewerage dataset. This dataset includes municipalities with no reported population served. The indicator measures sewerage network coverage; treatment and individual solutions require their own measures.

Investment for universal access

Universal access to water and sewerage requires funding system expansion and replacement. The estimated need depends on the targets, timeframe and prices used, as well as investment already made. The remaining amount is still under review. An estimate of need is not the same as an available budget.

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Budgets and institutional costs

How much is authorised, how much is executed and what each institution delivers.

National Congress: budget and execution

Chamber of Deputies (2024): R$ 8.04 billion in revised budget appropriations and R$ 6.96 billion committed. Senate (2024): R$ 5.92 billion in revised budget appropriations and R$ 5.50 billion committed. An appropriation is budgetary authorisation; a commitment reserves resources for an expense and does not mean payment. The accounts cover active staff, retirement benefits, pensions and the operation of the Houses.

State legislative assemblies

Dividing an assembly’s expenditure by its number of deputies gives an institutional allocation, not individual remuneration. The result depends on whether staff, retirees, running costs and investment are included. The previously displayed range is under review, with comparable sources, years and components still unconfirmed.

Judiciary: expenditure and scope

In 2023, the courts covered by Justiça em Números 2024 recorded R$ 132.8 billion in expenditure, around 1.2% of GDP. The scope excludes the STF and CNJ. 18% of recorded expenditure consists of retirement benefits and pensions. Payments to retirees made by funds outside some courts are not included.

Air transport for public officials

The annual total of flights and their aggregate cost are under review. The MIDR register documents only that ministry’s own activity. Assessing waste requires examining the need for the mission, transport alternatives and the expenses included. Occupancy alone does not support that conclusion.

United Kingdom: funding the Royal Household

In the 2023–24 financial year, the Sovereign Grant was £86.3 million for the sovereign’s official duties and the maintenance of occupied royal palaces. It is partial funding: it excludes physical security, and there are other sources. Its amount does not measure the entire cost of the monarchy or permit an efficiency comparison between different functions, such as those of Brazil’s Congress and judiciary.

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Notes on sources and data limitations

Main sources

• Work and income: IBGE/PNAD Contínua; Central Bank, SGS 1; minimum-wage legislation; MTE/CNES, union register dated 14/04/2025. • Business environment and productivity: Heritage Foundation, 2025 index; World Bank, Doing Business 2020; Mapa de Empresas; Receita Federal; Penn World Table 11.0, by Feenstra, Inklaar and Timmer. • Institutions: Transparency International, CPI 2024; WJP, 2026 index; CNJ, Justiça em Números 2024; IBPT, 2024 release; Federal Constitution. • Education: Inep, IDEB 2023 and 2025; INAF 2024; OECD, PISA 2022 and Education at a Glance 2026. • Health: OECD/IDB/World Bank, Health at a Glance LAC 2026; WHO, GHED and GHO; ANS, enrolments in August 2026. • Security: Ipea/FBSP, Atlas da Violência 2026; FBSP, Anuário 2026; UNODC, intentional homicides in 2024; IBGE, population estimates; Instituto Sou da Paz, Onde Mora a Impunidade, 8th edition. • Prisons and territories: Senappen, RELIPEN for the 2nd half of 2025 and Mapa ORCRIM 2024 presentation; GENI/UFF and Instituto Fogo Cruzado, Mapa Histórico 2025. • Mobility: CNT, Road Survey 2025; EPL, PNL 2035 final report; World Bank, LPI 2023. Context for the historical metro montage: MetrôRio and Shanghai Information Office. • Water and sanitation: Ministry of Cities, SINISA 2025, reference year 2024, and Plansab; GO Associados/Trata Brasil 2026, estimate examined with the investment balance still unreconciled. • Institutional accounts: Chamber and Senate, 2024 documents; National Treasury, MCASP; CNJ, 2023 expenditure; MIDR, the ministry’s own flights; Royal Household, Sovereign Grant 2023–24.