In 2017, a total 2.87 million births occurred and were registered in Brazil, with an increase of 2.6% against the figure in 2016. Registers after the year of birth amounted to 2.7% of the total in 2017, against 3.5% in 2016. The percentage of children of mothers aged aver 30 also increased:  from 23.4% to 32.2% for women aged 30 to 39 and from 2.2% to 2.9% for women aged 40 and over. 

The number of marriages fell by 2.3% in comparison with the 2016 figure, despite the increase of 10% in same-sex unions, which represent 0.5% of the total registers. 

Divorces, in turn, increased 8.3% against 2016, with an overall rate of 2.48 divorces for every 1,000 persons aged 20 and over in the country. The biggest proportion of divorces took place in families with minor children (45.8%). The percentage of divorces with a shared custody of children had a significant increase, with a change from 16.9%, in 2016, to 20.9% in 2017.

In 2017, 1.27 million deaths were registered, with an increase of 0.23% against 2016. Most registers (59.3%) referred to persons aged 65 and over. In the group aged 20 to 24, deaths due to external causes (homicides, suicides, car crashes, etc.) reached 11 times more men than women. From 2007 to 2017, mortality due to external causes increased in 17 of the 27 Federation Units in the country. The biggest increases were recorded in states located in the North and Northeast regions: Ceará (144.1%), Sergipe (134.7%), Bahia (128.5%), Acre (121.8%), Tocantins (114.7%), Rio Grande do Norte (113.1%) and Piauí (111.8%).

The complete survey and the support material to Vital Statistics 2017 can be found on the right of the page. 

Birth registers record increase, but do not make from previous losses

In 2017, 2,867,701 births occurred and were registered in registry offices in Brazil. In comparison with 2016, there was an increase of 2.6%, recovering part of the decrease of 5.1% of 2016 against 2015. In spite of that, the total births registered in 2017 was smaller than those of 2014 and 2015.

Among Federation Units, Rio Grande do Sul was the only one to record decrease in the number of registers in 2017 in relation to 2016 (-0.4%). Among the other states, the ones recording the smallest increases were: Pará (0.4%), Ceará (0.5%), Amapá (0.6%) and Mato Grosso (0.8%). The biggest increases were recorded by: Sergipe (5.1%), Rondônia e Rio de Janeiro (5.8%), Espírito Santo (5.9%), Acre and Mato Grosso do Sul (6.3%) and Tocantins (9%).

Percentage of children born of mothers aged over 30 records increase  

Between 2007 and 2017, the number of children born of mothers aged up to 19 at the time of birth changed from 20.22%, in 2007, to 15.95%, in 2017. In the same comparison, the number of children of mothers aged 20 to 29 changed from 54.1% to 48.98%; that of mothers aged 30 to 39 changed from 23.4% to 32.2%; and the percentage of children born of mothers aged 40 and over changed from 2.2% to 2.9%.

In ten years, the number of deaths by external causes increased in 17 states

Between 2007 and 2017, the analysis of registers of violent deaths of men aged 15 to 24 by Federation Unit points to increases in 17 of the 27 Federation Units. The sgtates of the North and Northeast recorded the biggest increases, the main highlights being Ceará (144.1%), Sergipe (134.7%), Bahia (128.5%), Acre (121.8%), Tocantins (114.7%), Rio Grande do Norte (113.1%) and Piauí (111.8%). On the other hand, there were significant increases in Paraná (-43.2%), Federal District (-35%), São Paulo (-30.9%), Espírito Santo (-25.9%), Mato Grosso do Sul (-23.5%), Rio de Janeiro (-20.9%) and Rondônia (-19.3%).

The remainder is temporarily in Portuguese.

20 to 24 years of age: non-natural deaths reach 11 times more men than women 

Male excess mortality by non-natural deaths (homicides, suicides, car accidents, drownings, accidental falls, etc.) in the group aged 20 to 24 was, in 2017, 11 times. That means the chance of a man aged 20 to 24 dying of non-natural causes was 11 times bigger that that o a woman in the same age group. If we consider only registers by natural causes in the group aged 20 to 24 years of age, a man had 2.3 more chances of dying than the woman at the same age. 

Between 2007 and 2017, there was a decrease in total deaths by external causes (homicides, suicides, car crashes, drownings, etc.) in both sexes in the age bracket of up to 14 years of age. Among men, except for the group aged 25 to 29, which recorded a slight decrease (-1.8%), there was increase of death registers in all age groups over 15, in the period. The biggest relative increases, for bothe sexes, were observed in the group aged 80 and over: 31.2% for men 39.1% for women. A considerable part of these causes can be attributed to accidental falls, which are also considered external deaths. 

Most death registers refer to persons aged 65 and over

The number of deaths registered in Brazil in the last 10 years increased by 23.5%, with a change from 1,031,864, in 2007, to 1,273,840, in 2017. Against 2016, there was an increase of 0.23%. Most deaths registered (59.3%) were of persons aged 65 and over. In 2007, deaths of these age groups amunted to 53.5% of the total.

The registration of deaths of persons under 5 years of age fell from 4.1%, in 2007, to 2.8%, in 2017. In 1977, for example, 33.4% of the deaths registered were of persons under 5 years of age, whereas only 29.4% were of persons aged 65 years of age. 

Late registration remain on a downward trend and stay at 2.7%

The registers of 2017 relative to births occurred in previous years remained on a downward trend: from 10.2%, in 2007, they fell to 3.5% in 2016 and stayed at 2.7% in 2017. Despite this decrease, there were regional discrepancies: North (9.9%), Northeast (3.5%), Central West (1.8%) and Southeast and South (0.9%).

Registers also shoe that 98.9% of the children born in hospitals or health establishments without hospitalization (considering only persons born alive). Some states, however, have had more than 1% in births in housing units: Amazonas (4.8%), Acre (3.9%), Amapá (2.5%), Pará (2.4%), Roraima (2.0%) and Maranhão (1.6%).

Same-sex marriages increase by 10% in 2017

In 2017, Brazil registered 1,070,376 civil marriages, with a decrease of 2.3% in relation to 2016. Same-sex marriages, however, increased by 10.0% between 2016 and 2017, having changed from 5,354 to 5,887 and represented 0.5% of the total marriages registered in 2017.

Also in relation to 2016, the number of birth registers recorded a decrease in all the Major Regions, having changed from 3.1%, in the Southeast, to 0.1%, in the South. Among the Federation Units, 18 recorded a decrease, mainly Ceará, with a decrease of 12.0%. On the other hand, Amapá had an increase of 11.1% nin the number of marriages registered. 

The marriage rate (umber of marriages in relation to the population aged 15 and over) was 6.6 marriages for every 1,000 marriages in BRazil, with the highest rates coming from the Southeast (7.5‰) and Central West (7.4‰).

Considering single partners of the same sex, in Brazil, men started living together at the age of 30, on average, and women at 29. For same-sex unions, the average age was about 34 for men, and 33 for women. 

Divorces increase and marriages lasts less time 

In 2017, Brazil registerd 373,216 divorces, an increase of 8.3% in relation to 2016 (344,526 divorces). The overall divorce rate (number of divorces in relation to the population aged 20 and over) increased by 2.38 divorces for every 1,000 persons, in 2016, to 2.48‰ in 2017. The Southeast Region recorded the highest overall divorce rate (2.99‰).

The average ages at the time of divorce were 43 years for men and 40 years of age for women. Between 2007 and 2017, the average interval between the date of marriage an the date of divorce fell from 17 to 14 years. An analysis of the change among the Federation Units in 2007, the average interval changed between 16 and 21 years.  Relative to 2017, the interval observed ranged from 11 to 18 years. 

According to the type of family arrangement, the biggest proportion of divorces took place in families with minor children, only (45.8%). The percentage of divorces with shared custody of children had a significant increase, having changed from 16.9%, in 2016, to 20.9%, in 2017, with the biggest percentage recorded in the South Region (24.2%).  In 2014, that proportion was 7.5%. Women are still the majority when it comes to the custody of minor children: in 2017, that percentage reached 69.4%, and was below the figure in 2016 (74.4%).