The IBGE discloses today the estimates of the population living in the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities, taking as reference the date of July 1st of 2019. According to the estimate, Brazil has 210.1 million inhabitants and a population growth rate of 0.79% per year, with decrease in growth when compared to the 2017/2018 period, according to the 2018 Population Projection.

The municipality of São Paulo is still the most populous of the country, with 12.25 million inhabitants, followed by Rio de Janeiro (6.72 million inhabitants), Brasília (3.0 million) and Salvador (2.9 million). Together, the 17 Brazilian municipalities with population above one million persons account for 46.1 million inhabitants and 21.9% of the Brazilian population.

Serra da Saudade (MG) is the Brazilian municipality with the lowest population, 781 inhabitants, followed by Borá (SP), with 837 inhabitants, and Araguainha (MT), with 935 inhabitants.

In the state ranking, the three most populous are in the Southeast Region, whereas the five less populous are in the North Region. The biggest of them is São Paulo, with 45.9 million inhabitants, concentrating 21.9% of the country's population. Roraima is the less populous municipality, with 605.8 thousand inhabitants (0.3% of the total population).

The municipal population estimates are one of the parameters used by the Federal Court of Accounts for the calculation of the Sharing Revenue Fund of the States and Municipalities and are a reference for several social, economic and demographic indicators. The present annual dissemination is pursuant to Article 102 of Law no 8,443/1992 and to Complementary law no 143/2013.

The municipal populations were estimated by mathematical procedures and result from the distribution of the populations by state, projected by demographic methods, among its various municipalities. The method is based in the state population projection and on the growth trend of the municipalities, traced by the municipal populations captured in the last two Population Censuses (2000 and 2010) and adjusted. The municipal estimates also incorporated the changes in the bordering limits of the municipalities occurred after 2010.

The table of the estimated population for each municipality was published in the Official Gazette (D.O.U.) today. The technical note and the population estimates for the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities and for the 27 Federation Units can be seen to the right.

In 2019, just over half of the Brazilian population (57.4% or 120.7 million inhabitants) concentrates in only 5.8% of the municipalities (324 municipalities), which are those with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The 48 municipalities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants concentrate almost 1/3 of the population (31.7%, or 66.5 million persons).

On the other hand, only 15.2% of the country's population (32.0 million people) lives in the municipalities with up to 20,000 persons, which are the majority (68.2%, or 3,670 municipalities). 

Of the 17 municipalities with a population of over one million, 14 are state capitals. These municipalities account for 21.9% of the country's population. The municipality of São Paulo remains the most populous in the country, with 12.25 million inhabitants, followed by Rio de Janeiro (6.72 million), Brasília (3.0 million) and Salvador (2.9 million).

Excluding capitals, 25 Brazilian municipalities have more than 500 thousand inhabitants. Those municipalities are in the states of São Paulo (8), Rio de Janeiro (6), Minas Gerais (3), Pernambuco, Bahia, Santa Catarina, Goiás, Paraná, Pará, Espirito Santo and Rio Grande do Sul.

Among the least populous municipalities, there are 25 municipalities with a population of less than 1,500, three of which have of less than 1,000 inhabitants. They are: Serra da Saudade (MG) with 781 inhabitants; Borá (SP), with 837 inhabitants and Araguainha (MT), with 935 inhabitants.

Considering the composition of the Metropolitan Areas as of December 31, 2018, the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo, on July 1, 2019, is the most populous, with 21.7 million inhabitants, followed by the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (12.8 million inhabitants) and the Metropolitan Area of Belo Horizonte (6.0 million inhabitants) and the Integrated Development Area (RIDE) of the Federal District and Surroundings (4.6 million inhabitants).

The 28 Metropolitan Areas, RIDEs and Urban Agglomerations that surpass 1 million inhabitants in 2019 add up to 99.8 million inhabitants.

Together, the 27 capitals surpass 50 million inhabitants, representing, in 2019, 23.86% of the total population of the country. The capital with the highest geometric growth rate in the 2018-2019 period is estimated for Boa Vista, 6.35% , and the smallest to Porto Alegre, with a 0.32% growth.

Population growth in the total country, measured by the geometric growth rate, was 0.79% per year, expressing a drop in growth compared to the 2017/2018 period, according to the 2018 Population Projection.

Of the 5,570 municipalities in the country, 28.6% had population reduction. Approximately half (49.6%) of the municipalities had growth between zero and 1% and only 4.8% (266 municipalities) showed growth of 2% or more.

The group of municipalities with up to 20 thousand inhabitants presented, proportionally, the largest number of municipalities with population reduction. In the group of municipalities between 100 thousand and one million inhabitants, there is the largest proportion of municipalities with growth over 1% per year. Municipalities with more than one million inhabitants concentrate growth between zero and 1% per year.