IBGE released today, August 30, 2016, the estimates of the resident population for the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities, based on the reference date of July 1, 2016. It was estimated that Brazil has 206.1 million inhabitants and a growth rate of 0.80% between 2015 and 2016, slightly lower than that computed between 2014 and 2015 (0.83%).

The municipality of São Paulo remained as the most populated in Brazil, with 12.0 million inhabitants, followed by Rio de Janeiro (6.5 million inhabitants), Brasília and Salvador (about 2.9 million inhabitants each). Seventeen Brazilian municipalities had a population greater than 1 million inhabitants, adding up to 45.2 million inhabitants or 21.9% of the whole population of Brazil.

Serra da Saudade (MG) was the less populated Brazilian municipality (815 inhabitants), followed by Borá (SP), with 838 inhabitants, and Araguainha (MT), with 953 inhabitants. It was estimated that nearly 1/4 of the municipalities (24.8%) had their population reduced between 2015 and 2016.

Concerning the ranking of the states, the three most populated were located in the Southeast Region, whereas the five less populated were located in the North Region. Adding up to 44.7 million inhabitants, the state of São Paulo concentrated 21.7% of the Brazilian population. The state of Roraima was the less populated, with 514.2 thousand inhabitants (0.2% of the whole population).

The population estimates are one of the parameters used by the Brazilian Court of Audit to calculate the State and Municipal Revenue Sharing Fund and are key to compute socio-demographic and economic indicators. This annual release complies with article 102 of the Law no. 8,443/1992 and with the Complementary Law no. 143/2013.

The population of the municipalities was estimated by a mathematical procedure and was the result of the distribution of the population of the states, projected among their municipalities by demographic methods. The method is based on the projection of the state population and on the growth trend of the municipalities, outlined by the municipal population captured by the two most recent Population Censuses (2000 and 2010). The municipal estimates also incorporated changes in the territory boundaries that took place after 2010.

The table containing the estimated population for each municipality was published in the edition of the Official Gazette (DOU) of today, August 30, 2016. The methodological note and the table with the population estimates for the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities and for the 27 Federation Units can be accessed here.

Municipalities with more than 1 million inhabitants

More than half (56.4%) of population live in 309 municipalities

In 2016, slightly more than half of the Brazilian population (56.4% or 116.1 million inhabitants) lives in only 5.5% of the municipalities (309), which were those with more than 100 thousand inhabitants.

The municipalities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants (41) concentrated 29.9% of the Brazilian population (61.6 million inhabitants). On the other hand, most of the Brazilian municipalities (68.4%) had up to 20 thousand inhabitants and accounted for only 15.8% of the Brazilian population (32.3 million inhabitants).                                          

Excluding the capitals, the ten most populated municipalities were Guarulhos (SP), Campinas (SP), São Gonçalo (RJ), Duque de Caxias (RJ), São Bernardo do Campo (SP), Nova Iguaçu (RJ), Santo André (SP), Osasco (SP), São José dos Campos (SP) and Jaboatão dos Guararapes (PE).

Municipalities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants, except capitals

Serra da Saudade (MG) was the less populated Brazilian municipality in 2016 – estimated at 815 inhabitants –, followed by Borá (SP), with 838 inhabitants, and Araguainha (MT), with 953 inhabitants. Those were the only three municipalities with less than one thousand inhabitants on July 1, 2016.

Municipalities with less than 1,500 inhabitants

The set of 27 capitals added up to 49.0 million inhabitants, representing 23.82% of the Brazilian population in 2016. The highest geometric growth rate in the 2015-2016 period was estimated for Palmas (2.61%) and the lowest, for Porto Alegre (0.28%).

Nearly 1/4 of the municipalities (24.8%) had their population reduced.

The population growth in the whole country, measured by the geometric growth rate, was of 0.80%, below that estimated for the 2015-2014 period (0.83%), according to the IBGE´s 2013 Population Projection.

Nearly 1/4 of the 5,570 municipalities (24.8% or 1,379 municipalities) registered negative growth rates, i.e., had their population reduced. More than half of the Brazilian municipalities (53.4% or 2,975 municipalities) rose between 0% and less than 1%, and 260 municipalities (4.7% of the total) recorded a growth equal to or greater than 2%.

The group of municipalities with up to 20 thousand inhabitants proportionally posted the greatest number of municipalities with population reduction (1,235 municipalities or 32.4% of the municipalities with up to 20 thousand). Conversely, the municipalities with more than 100 thousand up to one million inhabitants were those that registered the highest proportion of municipalities growing above 1% (133 or 45.5%). The municipalities with more than one million inhabitants grew between 0 and 1% per year (14 or 82.3% of the municipalities with this population size).

Population of Metropolitan Areas, Integrated Development Areas and Urban Agglomerations with more than 1 million inhabitants

Source: IBGE, Diretoria de Pesquisas - DPE, Coordenação de População e Indicadores Sociais - COPIS. 
MA = Metropolitan Area and RIDE = Integrated Development Area
Notes: (1) Composition of Metropolitan Areas in force on December 31, 2015; (2) Includes Metropolitan Belt; (3) Includes Metropolitan Expansion Area

The set of 27 capitals added up to 49.0 million inhabitants, representing 23.82% of the Brazilian population in 2016. The highest geometric growth rate in the 2015-2016 period was estimated for Palmas (2.61%) and the lowest, for Porto Alegre (0.28%).

Nearly 1/4 of the municipalities (24.8%) had their population reduced.

The population growth in the whole country, measured by the geometric growth rate, was of 0.80%, below that estimated for the 2015-2014 period (0.83%), according to the IBGE´s 2013 Population Projection.

Nearly 1/4 of the 5,570 municipalities (24.8% or 1,379 municipalities) registered negative growth rates, i.e., had their population reduced. More than half of the Brazilian municipalities (53.4% or 2,975 municipalities) rose between 0% and less than 1%, and 260 municipalities (4.7% of the total) recorded a growth equal to or greater than 2%.

The group of municipalities with up to 20 thousand inhabitants proportionally posted the greatest number of municipalities with population reduction (1,235 municipalities or 32.4% of the municipalities with up to 20 thousand). Conversely, the municipalities with more than 100 thousand up to one million inhabitants were those that registered the highest proportion of municipalities growing above 1% (133 or 45.5%). The municipalities with more than one million inhabitants grew between 0 and 1% per year (14 or 82.3% of the municipalities with this population size).

Significant differences among the Major Regions still exist. The North and Central-West recorded the highest proportions of municipalities with growth rates above 1%. On the other hand, the scenario in the South Region was quite different, posting a high proportion of municipalities with negative growth rates.