8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / South America

Born in Brazil

About 1 in 51 people born in 2023 started life in Brazil. A boy can expect to live 73 years and a girl 79, up from 46 and 51 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 51
odds of being born here
2.6 million births · Ranked 10th of 230
73 / 79
years of life, boys / girls
Was 46 / 51 in 1950
$9,294
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 79th of 203 · extrapolated
88%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 27 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 215 in every 1,000 births to 14.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth72.8 years for boys, 79.0 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 513.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year1,494,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.4World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles87%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.7%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year49 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year4 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.62UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.8 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 55 and the poorest fifth 4.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
4%Poorest fifth
8%Second
13%Middle
20%Fourth
55%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $9,294 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth55% / 4% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.9% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises4.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.8% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming8% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed30% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment105% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is São Paulo, with 12.4 million people.

88%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
São Paulo12.4 million
Rio de Janeiro6.7 million
Belo Horizonte2.7 million
Salvador2.7 million
Fortaleza2.4 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Portuguese91%
English8%
Portuguese is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

São Paulo43.2 million
Minas Gerais17.2 million
Rio de Janeiro17.0 million
Bahia13.0 million
Paraná9.7 million
Rio Grande do Sul9.3 million
Pernambuco8.9 million
Pará8.6 million
Ceará8.3 million
Santa Catarina6.8 million

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 27 regions
  • São Paulo43.2 million
  • Minas Gerais17.2 million
  • Rio de Janeiro17.0 million
  • Bahia13.0 million
  • Paraná9.7 million
  • Rio Grande do Sul9.3 million
  • Pernambuco8.9 million
  • Pará8.6 million
  • Ceará8.3 million
  • Santa Catarina6.8 million
  • Goiás6.1 million
  • Maranhão5.9 million
  • Federal District4.6 million
  • Amazonas4.1 million
  • Espírito Santo3.4 million
  • Mato Grosso3.0 million
  • Paraíba2.9 million
  • Alagoas2.8 million
  • Rio Grande do Norte2.5 million
  • Mato Grosso do Sul2.4 million
  • Piauí2.2 million
  • Sergipe2.0 million
  • Rondônia1.6 million
  • Tocantins858,988
  • Acre794,527
  • Amapá773,642
  • Roraima550,434

People on the move

About 1.0% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Japan, Spain.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States738,994
Japan207,220
Spain179,946
Residents born abroad0.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (738,994), Japan (207,220), Spain (179,946)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $4.8 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

89% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 14%.

89%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
14%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024702,116Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19503NOAA NCEI
Hurricane-strength storms since 19801NOAA IBTrACS
Deaths in organized violence19,921 between 1993 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Brazil, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Brazil

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences