• Highlights

• IBGE makes available a new experimental study, presenting data for 24 indicators related to 146 geographic strata, formed by contiguous municipalities, in one same Federation Unit, sharing similar characteristics or related somehow.
• Most of the Brazilian population living below the poverty line in 2023 were residents of geographic strata encompassing the North and Northeast Regions, among which the so-called Metropolitan Arcs stand out. The strata with the biggest proportions of poor population were Vale do Rio Purus (AM), with 66.6%, Litoral and Baixada Maranhense (Coast and Lowlands of Maranhão State), with 63.8%, and Entorno Metropolitano de Manaus (Metropolitan Surrounding Areas of Manaus) (AM), with 62.3%, above the national average (27.4%).
• The employment rate in Brazil, which was 57.6% in 2023, tended to be lower in the Northeast. The lowest figures were found in the following geographic strata: Agreste of Rio Grande do Norte, with 37.6%; Litoral and Baixada Maranhense, with 38.9%; Litoral Sul e Agreste de Alagoas (South Coast and Dry lands of Alagoas), with 41.0%; and Leste Maranhense (Eastern Areas of Maranhão State), also with 41.0%.
• The access to adequate sewage disposal was unequal in the country in 2023. There were geographic strata from all the Major Regions among the worst indicators in this item (up to 57.7% of the people with access to proper sewage disposal), but mainly in the North, Northeast and Central West.
• Inequality was also observed in terms of sewage disposal, for example, in Metropolitan Arcs, with the worst indicators in the Entorno Metropolitano de Goiânia, with 46.0%, and Integrada de Brasília, in Goiás, with 36.3%. Other Metropolitan Arcs recorded figures above 90%, such as Entorno Metropolitano Oriental (Eastern Metropolitan Surrounding Areas) (SP - Capital), with 93.9%, and the Metropolitan Arc of Nova Iguaçu (RJ), with 93.4%.

The IBGE presents today (4), as part of the Summary of Social Indicators 2024, a new analysis of the living conditions of the Brazilian population in 2023, by geographic strata. It is an experimental study, with data for seven selected indicators, encompassing the topics labor, income, housing and education, in a more detailed subdivision of the national territory. A total of 146 strata were defined, being formed by contiguous municipalities, in one same Federation Unit, and sharing similar characteristics or related somehow. That allows the elaboration of statistically precise estimates that go beyond capital boundaries, which had been, so far, the lowest territory division adopted in a household survey.

The publication highlights seven indicators for analysis by means of cartograms: level of employment of persons aged 14 and over; unemployment rate of persons aged 14 and over; proportion of persons with household per capita income below US$ 6.85 a day in purchasing power parity (PPC); proportion of persons living in housing units with sewage disposal via public or rainwater system; proportion of persons living in housing units with a washing machine; proportion of persons living in housing units with Internet access; and proportion of persons aged 18 and over with at least 12 years of schooling.

Learn more news on poverty and education and health data from SIS 2024.

In 2023, most Brazilians living below poverty line were residents of Metropolitan Arcs and in inner areas of the North and Northeast

In 2023, in Brazil, 27.4% of the population had per capita household income below US$ 6.85 a day in terms of purchasing parity power, a figure defined by the World Bank for the poverty line of countries with a medium-high income. The highest proportions of persons living below the poverty line were identified in the strata that encompass the Metropolitan Arcs and the inner areas of the North and Northeast Regions. The strata with the highest figures were Vale do Rio Purus (AM), with 66.6%;  Litoral and Baixada Maranhense, with 63.8%; and Entorno Metropolitano de Manaus (AM), with 62.3%, above the national average (27.4%).

In other Major Regions of Brazil, the surrounding areas of Cuiabá (MT), Brasília (DF) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ) stand out, with proportions of poor people in the third level, in a total of four (between 27.4% and 48.8%), in the following places: Entorno Metropolitano de  Cuiabá (MT), with 29,9%; Integrada de Brasília in Goiás, with 27.6%; and Metropolitan Arc of Nova Iguaçu (RJ), with 33.9%.

“Detail by strata allows us to see regional inequalities, once data by Federation Units placed all those localities in the South, Southeast and Central West within the lowest figures found,” says Leonardo Athias, manager of SIS.

The employment population ratio, which was 57.6% in 2023, “tended to be lower in the Northeast, including in many of its capitals, in comparison with parts of the Northeast and other Major Regions,” Leonardo Athias explains. The lowest figures were found in the following strata: Agreste do Rio Grande do Norte, with 37.6%; Litoral and Baixada Maranhense, with 38.9%; Litoral Sul and Agreste de Alagoas, with 41,0%; and the Leste Maranhense (Eastern Maranhão), with 41.0%.

The strata in the fourth level of the distribution (with employment population ratio between 62.6% and 70.3%) corresponded to capitals of the Central West Region – except Brasília (Federal District) –, the entirety of Mato Grosso do Sul, parts of the South Region and the Southeast of Pará.

The index of adequate access to sewage disposal (household access to sewage disposal via public or rainwater system) also stood out. In 2023, 67.9% of the persons lived in these conditions. Regional inequalities once more appeared when strata with the worst indicators are considered (up to 57.7% of the persons with access to sewage disposal) in all the Major Regions, but concentrated in the North, Northeast and Central West, including Teresina (PI), with 18.1%; Macapá (AP), with 33.6%; Porto Velho (RO), with 48.3%; and Belém (PA), with 52.9%.

Inequalities were also found in populous regions, such as Metropolitan Arcs, for example, with indicators among the worst in Entorno Metropolitano de Goiânia, with 46.0%, and Integrada de Brasília in Goiás, with 36.3%. Metropolitan Arcs recorded figures above 90%, such as Entorno Metropolitano Oriental (SP - Capital), with 93.9%, and the Metropolitan Arc of Nova Iguaçu (RJ), with 93.4%.

In half of the municipal strata, less than 71.1% of the youngsters aged 18 to 29 had at least 12 years of schooling

One of the targets of the National Education Plan (PNE) consists of expanding the level of schooling aged 18 to 29 to, at least 12 years of schooling up to 2024, thus reducing regional inequalities by color or race, among residents of urban and rural areas, and for persons with lower income (condition of poverty). Data of 2023, when 73.1% of the youngsters aged  18 to 29 had 12 or more years of schooling, recorded increases against the start of the observation, versus 63.5% in 2016.

By area, 50.0% of the municipal strata had averages below 71.1% and were spread over the territory, encompassing the five Major Regions in Brazil. In the categories with lowest figures (below 63.5% of persons with at least 12 years of schooling), there were strata in the North and Northeast Regions, two strata in the South, some parts in Mato Grosso do Sul, in Colar Metropolitano (Metropolitan Belt) of Florianópolis (SC), and in Centro e Sul Oriental do Paraná (Central and Eastern South of Paraná State).

Residents of the North and Northeast were the ones with least access to washing machines, and, in the North, Internet access was below the national average

The geographic strata with the lowest indicators of access to washing machines, that is, with  up to 73.9% of the population having this durable good, were concentrated in the North and Northeast, being also present in part of Minas Gerais, Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. All over Brazil, the capitals tended to present higher access to a washing machine in comparison with municipalities in the Metropolitan Arc or inner areas. The strata with lowest proportion were found in the inner parts of the North and Northeast Region: Litoral e Baixada Maranhense (17.6%); Litoral Norte e Mata de Alagoas (North Coast and Forests of Alagoas State) (22.0%); and Sertão de Alagoas (Dry Areas of Alagoas) (22,9%), against a national average of 70.8%. 

On the other hand, Santa Catarina concentrated the strata with biggest proportions: Litoral Norte e Planalto Norte Catarinense (North Coast and North Plateau of  Santa Catarina State), and Entorno Metropolitano de Florianópolis (Metropolitan Surroundings of Florianópolis) (SC), both with 97.0%, and Florianópolis (SC), with 96.2%. 

The share of the population living in housing units with access to the Internet in Brazil was  92.4% in 2023. The analysis by Federation Units indicated minimum figures, of 86.2% for Maranhão and 87.0% for Amazonas. The results by strata, in turn, showed minimum figures below 75% in the North Region, in locations such as Vale do Rio Madeira/Nhamundá (AM), with 71.6%, Acre except the capital Rio Branco, with 73.7%, and Vale do Rio Purus (AM), with 74.6%. The smallest proportions were in the North and Northeast, at the same time other strata, among the 50% lowest proportions, were also found in inner parts of the South Region (west border), parts of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.

More about the survey

The Summary of Social Indicators: an analysis of the Brazilian population’s living conditions 2024, systematizes information about local reality and the living conditions of the country: economic structure and labor market; standard of living and income distribution (including poverty lines), housing conditions; education and health conditions. Geographies include Major Regions, Federation Units and, for some indicators, municipalities of capitals. 

In this edition, new analyses are presented, such as indicators on living conditions by geographic strata; housing conditions by status of monetary poverty; among others.