MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's population over 203 million, 2022 census shows

The average population growth in recent years was the lowest since 1872

Brazil's population in 2022 was determined to be 203,062,512 people, the Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) announced Wednesday after the results of last year's census were published. The new figures showed an increase of 12.3 million since the 2010 census, Agencia Brasil noted.

The 6.5% difference means that the average population growth in recent years was 0.52%, the lowest since 1872 when the first census was conducted, it was also explained.

The data have a reference date of July 31, 2022, and are part of the first Population and Households results of the Demographic Census 2022. According to IBGE, they ”present a set of basic information about the total population of households in the country at different geographic levels and different clippings, as well as several indicators derived from this information, such as the average number of residents per household, population density, and the annual growth rate of the population.

With 84.8 million inhabitants, the Southeast Region remained the most populous. The total number of inhabitants is equivalent to 41.8% of the country's population. Following are the Northeast (26.9%), South (14.7%), and North (8.5%). The least populated region is the Midwest, with 16.3 million inhabitants, or 8.02% of the country's population.

If the comparison of the 2010 and 2022 demographic censuses is taken into account, the annual population growth did not occur uniformly among the large regions. Although it is less populous, the Midwest registered the highest growth, resulting in an average rate of 1.2% per year over the last 12 years.

“In the composition of the annual growth rate, by region, we observe that the North, which grew the most between the 1991 and 2000 Census and between 2000 and 2010, loses its position to the Midwest, which, in this decade, over the last 12 years, registered growth of 23% per year,” said the technical manager of the 2022 Census, Luciano Tavares Duarte.

The lowest population growth rates were in the Northeast and Southeast. The rate is lower than the average for Brazil, of 0.52% per year.

“Following the historical trend of reduction in total population growth, the rates calculated for the five large regions are lower than those estimated for the two previous intercensal periods,” noted IBGE.

São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro are the three most populous states in the country and concentrate 39.9% of the population. “The state of São Paulo alone, with 44 million 420 thousand 459 census people, representing 21%, represents one-fifth of the population,” he also pointed out.

Behind came Bahia, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. In the opposite direction are the states located on Brazil's northern border, among them Roraima, which remains the least populated state (with 636,303 inhabitants), followed by Amapá and Acre. The 2022 Census also shows that 14 states and the Federal District had average annual growth rates above the national average (0.52%) between 2010 and 2022.

Despite being the least populated, the state with the highest population growth was Roraima, where the average annual growth rate reached 2.92% in the period, the only one to exceed 2% a year.

There was also an increase in the number of households in the country. According to the 2022 Census, the increase is 34% compared to the 2010 Census, totaling 90.7 million. In the current survey, the domiciliary units were classified taking into account the situation of its residents on the operation's reference date. The categories are occupied permanent private residences, residences for occasional use, vacant residences, occupied improvised private residences, and collective residences with and without residents.

The census sought to collect information from the people living in the households. However, not always, at the time of the visit, the census taker can do the interviews, either because the residents refuse to answer or because there is no one on the property at that moment. In these cases, starting in the 2007 Population Count, IBGE started to include the imputation of residents in occupied houses without interviews. Countries such as Australia, Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom also adopt this method, Agencia Brasil also explained.

Vacant permanent private residences grew 87%, reaching 11.4 million. In 12 years, those of occasional use increased by 70%, reaching 6.7 million. Since 2010, occupied permanent private residences increased by 26% and unoccupied residences increased by 80%. “There is a difference in growth between the domiciles that were inhabited and the uninhabited, increasing from 10 million to 18 million,” said Tavares Duarte.

Of the total number of homes in 2022, 90.6 million were permanent private homes, 66,000 were improvised private homes, and 105,000 were collective homes. The average number of residents per household in the country is 2.79 people. This result represents a drop from the 2010 Census. At that time, the average was 3.31 residents per household.

Also according to the 2022 Census, among permanent residents, 72.4 million, or 80%, were occupied. Even with the increase in the absolute number of occupied permanent private households, compared to 2010, the occupation proportion of permanent private households has dropped. According to IBGE, in 2010, there were 57.3 million occupied permanent private homes, which represents 85.1% of the total number of permanent private homes.

By regions, the Census 2022 showed variations in the proportional occurrence of vacant permanent private residences. While in the North it was 12.6%, in the Northeast it was 15.0%, in the Southeast 11.9%, in the South 10.5%, and in the Midwest 12.6%. ”The Northeast Region stands out as having the highest percentage, as occurred in 2010, especially in municipalities located in the interior. The states with the highest and lowest percentage of vacant private homes were, respectively, Rondônia (with 16.7%) and Santa Catarina (8.8%).”

The demographic density of the country in the last census survey was estimated at 23.8 inhabitants per square kilometer (km²). According to the IBGE, this number continues to be unequal among the regions. “In the North, which has an area of 3 850 593 km², or 45.2% of the country's territory, the density is 4.5 inhabitants/km². In the most populous region, the Southeast, the average is 91.8 inhabitants per square kilometer,” reported the agency.

The domicile density, which is represented by the relation between residents in occupied permanent private residences and the number of occupied permanent private residences, dropped 18.7% in the 2022 census period, a more accentuated index than the 13.5% reported between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, going from 3.3, in 2010, to 2.8, in 2022.

The highest domicile density (3.3 residents per household) was registered in the North Region, while the South Region had the lowest (2.6 residents per household). In the state context, the averages range from 2.5, in Rio Grande do Sul, to 3.6, in the states of Amazonas and Amapá. “Only seven states have an average of residents per household greater than or equal to 3: the aforementioned Amazonas and Amapá, Roraima, Pará, Maranhão, Acre, and Piauí,” IBGE said.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)