Do you consider yourself poor, rich or part of middle class? Data of IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) for 2025 help answer this question.
Official statistics were gathered by Sheet in a calculator that allows the interested party to consult their position in the income distribution in Brazil. The tool is available below.
To find out which range you are in, you need to enter two pieces of information into the calculator: your household’s total monthly income in average figures for 2025 and how many people lived off that income per month.
Resources obtained from work and other sources can be entered into the account. The other sources investigated by IBGE are the following:
- retirement and pension;
- rent and lease;
- alimony, donation and non-resident allowance;
- social income transfer programs from the federal government (such as Bolsa Família and BPC), states or municipalities;
- other income, such as profitability from financial investments, scholarships, copyrights, exploitation of patents, etc.
With the information filled in, the calculator indicates your per capita household income and which population group you are in.
Per capita household income adds up the resources obtained by the residents of a household and divides the money by the number of people, including those who do not work, such as children.
For example: if a woman earns R$5,000 per month and lives with one child (single mother), the household income per person is R$2,500.
André Salata, coordinator of the PUCRS Data Social study laboratory, states that per capita income is important for analyzing people’s well-being.
“Well-being depends greatly on the income of the family group, because resources are divided within the family.”
WHAT IS DISTRIBUTION LIKE?
Among the poorest 5% of the Brazilian population, income per person was up to R$299 per month in 2025, according to IBGE data.
If the analysis considers a broader base, of the poorest 30%, the maximum income was R$906 per person last year.
In the segment of the population that earned above the poorest 30% and below the richest 20%, that is, an intermediate layer, income ranged from more than R$906 to R$2,958 per person. This is the hypothetical case of the mother and child mentioned in this text (R$ 2,500 per person).
Also according to IBGE, the richest 20% earned more than R$2,958 per month per person last year. This is a value that may sound strange when talking about wealth.
This is due to the fact that the group with the highest incomes is quite heterogeneous. Therefore, experts recommend a more detailed look at who is at the top of the distribution.
When the analysis considers a more restricted group, the richest 10%, per capita household income rises to more than R$4,609. Among the richest 5%, the value was above R$6,900 in 2025.
Finally, the richest 1% had a per capita income of more than R$15,214 per month last year, according to IBGE. It is a value far removed from that of other groups.
The analysis considers gross income. According to the institute, sporadic winnings, such as those from lotteries or similar, are not captured.
The source of information is an annual module from Pnad Contínua released by IBGE on May 8. The research is sample-based – constructed from interviews with a group of informants representative of society.
The characteristics of the survey allow Pnad to capture information about income from sources such as work, pensions and social programs, according to economist Marcelo Neri, director of the FGV Social study center.
The research, however, may face difficulties in determining variable capital gains, such as dividends and financial investments, which have a greater impact on the richest layers, points out Neri.
Therefore, scholars also tend to analyze the information declared in the Income Tax when investigating the top of the distribution.
“Normal mortals are well captured by Pnad. Pharaohs, however, are not”, says Neri.
In the IBGE survey, income inequality measured by the Gini index rose in the country in 2025after reaching an all-time low in 2024.
Despite the increase, last year’s level was the second lowest ever recorded in the historical series, which began in 2012.
According to the institute, per capita household income grew for the poor and rich in 2025, but the increase was more intense for those who earn more, which explains the rise in the disparity.
“THE inequality changes little in Brazil. It has a lot of resistance, despite efforts (to reduce it). But the good news is that income has grown for everyone”, says Neri.
