Brazil’s Federal Police seized BRL 9.5 billion in cash and assets from organized crime in 2025 – up from BRL 6.1 billion seized in the previous year, the corporation’s director-general, Andrei Rodrigues, said Monday (Dec. 15). The figures correspond to the period from January to November of each year.

According to Rodrigues, these are “funds that were effectively seized from organized crime,” having been confiscated in various forms, “in cash, real estate, boats, aircraft, cryptocurrency, or gold.”

The amounts were also found in the accounts of those under investigation, even though it is common for the amounts seized in these cases to be less than the amount frozen by the courts, Rodrigues said.

The director met with journalists on Monday at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília. During the meeting, he defended the measures taken to de-capitalize organized crime.

“It’s not the poor black people in the favelas. We need to confront those who finance, who have resources, who run organized crime and lead organized structures, and who have rarely set foot in a favela,” he said. 

According to Rodrigues’ assessment, in 2025, to date, the Federal Police has recorded 3,310 approved operations, up from 3,133 last year, with 2,413 arrest warrants served, also up from 2,184 in 2024. In his view, the numbers demonstrate “a more efficient result of the investigations.”

The results for 2025 from the Integrated Force for Combating Organized Crime (FICCO) were also presented, which recorded 215 operations, 978 arrests, and 1,551 searches and seizures carried out. The de-capitalized value totaled BRL 163.31 million.

Brazil has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the largest country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV – known as vertical transmission – as a public health problem. The nation’s Health Minister Alexandre Padilha made the announcement on CanalGov Friday (Dec. 15).

According to Minister Padilha, the board of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), together with representatives from the WHO, will visit Brazil this week to officially present the certification to the Brazilian government.

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“This means that Brazil has managed to eliminate it thanks to [Brazil’s national health care network], the SUS, rapid testing at basic health care units, prenatal testing, and HIV-positive pregnant women taking medication through the SUS,” Minister Padilha stated.

He recalled that, a few decades ago, Brazil had philanthropic initiatives to maintain shelters for orphans with HIV who had lost their parents to AIDS.

“They took in babies who were born with HIV and whose parents had died. Fortunately, we no longer have that in our country, nor do we have HIV transmission from pregnant women to their babies,” he pointed out.

Brazil submitted a dossier to the world organization in July with data from the SUS in Brazil, he went on to note.

Protesters in various Brazilian cities took to the streets on Sunday (Dec. 14) against the approval of a bill dubbed Dosimetry Bill (in reference to the calculation of sentence lengths), which aims to reduce the penalties for individuals convicted of the pro-coup riots staged on January 8, 2023, and to benefit former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Opposition lawmakers estimate that, based on the criteria set forth in the bill – which also reduces the time required for a convict to progress from imprisonment in jail to house arrest – Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to just over 27 years in prison, would serve only two years and four months in prison, instead of the seven years and eight months ruled by the court.
 

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The protests were organized by the Brasil Popular (“Brazil of the People”) and Povo Sem Medo (“The People Without Fear”) fronts – left-wing movements that mobilized against the bill’s approval in the country’s main capitals.

“This demonstration was motivated by the vote that took place in the lower house this week on the Dosimetry Bill. We consider this to be a form of amnesty, and we believe that the crimes committed against democracy are very serious and cannot be forgiven, not least because impunity will lead to further coup attempts in the future,” said Juliana Donato, from Povo Sem Medo. She believes that popular pressure in the streets is a movement that could indeed lead to the defeat of the bill in a vote yet to be held in the Senate.

In Brasília, protesters gathered in front of the Museum of the Republic and marched to Congress, where they chanted slogans and held up posters reading “No pardon for coup-mongers.”

São Paulo

Protesters occupied Paulista Avenue in downtown São Paulo. Representatives from labor unions, social and student movements, and political parties opposed to the bill joined the rally.They chanted “no amnesty” several times and carried posters with mes sages such as “Congress is the enemy of the people,” highlighting criticism of House Speaker Hugo Motta for the speed with which he put the bill to a vote.
 

Rio de Janeiro

The demonstrations brought thousands of people to Rio’s Copacabana Beach. The call to action came from Brasil Sem Medo, unions, and students, and was attended by activists, representatives from left-wing political parties, and artists such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who referred to the demonstration as the second musical act against the setbacks being discussed in Congress.

In addition to the bill, described by participants as a major democratic setback and a “coup,” protesters also spoke out against the six-day work week and one-day rest schedule and for the reduction of working hours, demanded concrete measures to combat femicide, and condemned the time frame that limits the demarcation of indigenous lands.

Angela Tarnapolsky, a retiree, said that at 72, after witnessing much of Brazil’s recent history since the military coup, she could not help but protest. “What brought me here today was outrage at a dramatic situation that has been unfolding since the coup against [former] President Dilma [Rousseff],” she said. She had hoped for a return to democracy with the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but she sees setbacks in the actions of lawmakers and senators whom she called reactionaries. “Not even during the dictatorship did we have a Congress with such a majority of fascists,” she argued.

“We had a very difficult week. How can they put a disguised amnesty bill to a vote at 1 am? I’ve never seen the National Congress meet in the middle of the night, on the sly, in the dead of night, to give some kind of benefit to workers,” singer Teresa Cristina pointed out indignantly during the demonstration in Rio.

Nearly half of Brazilian women (46%) are not treated with respect in the country. This feeling is repeated at home, in the workplace and on the streets – where 49 percent of them say they are not respected.

The figures can be found in the 11th National Survey on Violence Against Women – the largest survey on the subject in Brazil, conducted by DataSenado and Nexus in partnership with the Senate’s Women’s Observatory Against Violence.

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The survey interviewed over 20 thousand women in all regions of the country and reveals that sexism continues to be the rule rather than the exception – 94 percent of respondents classify Brazil as a sexist nation.

“This biennial monitoring and updating of data allows us to measure how things are and what has changed in the country compared to violence against women and perceptions on the subject. In other words, senators and the government need these data in order to create and measure the success of laws and public policies to protect women,” said Marcos Ruben de Oliveira, coordinator of the DataSenado Research Institute.

Sexism

The perception that Brazil is a sexist nation remains virtually unanimous among women. In 2025, 94 percent of them say they live in a sexist country – the same as in 2023. The difference, however, lies in how sexist – the group that considers Brazil to be very sexist rose from 62 to 70 percent in two years, representing 8 million more women.

Since 2017, the percentage has never fallen below 90 percent, and a mere two percent of Brazilian women say they do not see sexism in the country. The surge in the perception of sexism goes hand in hand with the feeling that domestic violence has grown – 79 percent of women believe this type of violence has risen in the last 12 months, resuming the highest level in the time series.

Disrespect

Since 2011, the streets have been the environment most often mentioned as being the most disrespectful. Even though the number of women sharing this view fell from 2023 to 2025, almost half (49%) of respondents still say it is on public thoroughfares that they feel most vulnerable. Meanwhile, the notion that disrespect is greater at home increased by four points – which corresponds to about 3.3 million more women. In the workplace, in turn, there was no significant change, but it remains in second place.

“Even though it is worrying that women are not respected in their closest social circle – which in theory should be a safe and welcoming space – this is consistent with the high rates of domestic violence in the country. Unfortunately, it is not only the streets that present danger and disrespect, as demonstrated by our high rates of femicide,” said Beatriz Accioly, anthropologist and leader for public policies for the end of violence against girls and women at the Natura Institute.

Regional differences

Differences in how respect is perceived also vary depending on the region. The survey shows that in the Brazilian South, for instance, 53 percent of women say that “sometimes” women are not treated with respect – the highest among all regions. In the Northeast, half of the respondents (50%) say that women are not respected. Even though no statistically significant difference is found compared to the Northeast, the Southeast comes next, with 48 percent, followed by the Central-West (44%) and the North (41%).

Despite variations, all Brazilian regions show a significant presence of women who report to have an experience oscillating between occasional respect and complete disrespect, demonstrating that the feeling of instability in how society treats women is widespread. “The data help us gauge how violence against women is no longer restricted to the domestic sphere and has become structural, with long-term social and economic effects,” Maria Teresa Prado, coordinator of the Women’s Observatory Against Violence in the Senate, pointed out.

Education

When data analysis is based on schooling, the picture reveals even deeper inequalities. Among illiterate women, 62 percent say that women are not treated with respect – a much higher rate than among those who have completed higher education (41%). The perception of respect grows as the level of education rises, but does not disappear completely – even among women with a university degree, only eight percent say that women are fully respected. The greatest variations are concentrated in the groups with incomplete secondary and higher education, where more than half of the respondents claim that women are treated with respect only sometimes, revealing that education can reduce – but not eliminate – the perception of disrespect and structural sexism.

“The intersection between education and perception of respect also shows how educational inequalities translate into social vulnerability. Women with less access to formal education not only perceive more situations of disrespect, but also face greater difficulty in reporting or accessing protection services,” says Vitória Régia da Silva, executive director of the Gender and Number Association.

The relaxation of restrictions in 2019 on weapons previously limited to security forces, such as 9 mm semi-automatic pistols, during Jair Bolsonaro’s first year in office, led to some of these weapons being diverted into the hands of criminals.

This finding is contained in the study Arsenal do Crime (Arsenal of Crime), released this week by the Sou da Paz Institute, a non-profit organization that advocates for the disarmament of society.

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The survey shows that seizures of 9 mm pistols more than doubled from 2018 to 2023. In 2018, there were 2,995 seizures, a number that jumped to 6,568 in 2023, representing an increase of 119 percent.

The data refer to four Brazilian states in the southeast: Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo.

In 2018, the 9 mm caliber was the fifth most seized in the country. It represented 7.4 percent of the total industrial weapons. By 2023, it was already the second most common, with 18.8 percent of seizures, second only to the 38 mm revolver. During this period, a total of 255,000 weapons were seized.

Collectors, sport shooters, and hunters

The Sou da Paz study links the increase in seizures to the 2019 decree issued during the Jair Bolsonaro administration, which made it easier for collectors, sport shooters, and hunters (CACs) to obtain weapons.

Among that government’s determinations, 9 mm pistols were no longer considered for the exclusive use of security forces. In addition, sport shooters could obtain up to 30 weapons. Since the election campaign, the relaxation of gun use - framed as an attribute of the freedom of defense - had been one of the banners of then-candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

Researchers at Sou da Paz believe that this relaxation has led to a transformation in the illegal arms market in southeastern Brazil.

“The shift from revolvers to pistols represents a dramatic increase in the offensive capacity of criminals,” the study notes.

The document explains that while revolvers are limited to five or six shots and require a slow reloading procedure, pistols allow almost instantaneous reloading and use magazines with 12 or more rounds, enabling rapid and continuous firing.

The document also points out that the 9 mm caliber expels the projectile with 40 percent more energy and greater range.

Bruno Langeani, project coordinator at the Sou da Paz Institute, says that easing access to firearms “has allowed a large influx of this more powerful weapon into the legal market.”

“This has led to a very high number of such weapons in private homes, which allows for what we call good-faith diversion - when someone who bought a weapon for sport shooting or self-defense has it stolen or robbed,” he adds.

In addition, he states that the change in regulation was “very poorly done and with little oversight.”

“It opened the door for bad-faith diversion - a faction recruiting someone with no criminal record to buy these weapons and then divert them to crime,” explains Langeani.

The institute’ survey also presents information on the seizure of larger weapons. From 2018 to 2023, the recovery of rifles, machine guns, and submachine guns grew by 55.8 percent in the southeastern states, from 1,115 to 1,738.

In the specific case of rifles, Rio de Janeiro recorded 3,076 seizures - more than double the number in the other three states combined (1,411).

Stricter rules

In 2023, a month after the change of government, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched a re-registration process for weapons held by the public.

“It is very important, and it requires a segment of the Federal Police to look into these purchases and verify whether the weapons are no longer in their owners’ possession,” argues the coordinator of the Sou da Paz Institute.

In July 2023, a decree restored the exclusive use of 9 mm pistols to security forces.

Another measure taken by the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration was to transfer responsibility for overseeing the registration of CACs from the Army to the Federal Police. The measure was signed in 2023, and the transfer of jurisdiction took effect in the second half of the year.

As one way to reduce the number of weapons in the hands of criminals, Bruno Langeani argues that more states should have police stations specialized in combating arms trafficking, known as Desarmes, which are currently present in only six of Brazil’s 27 states.

In a statement published Friday (Dec. 12), the US government removed the name of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes from the list of persons under the Magnitsky Act.

The name of his wife, lawyer Viviane Barci de Moraes, and the Lex Institute, linked to the justice’s family, were also scrapped.

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The decision was made by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury.

The Magnitsky Act sanctions were imposed on Justice Alexandre de Moraes by the Donald Trump administration in late July. In September, his wife’s name was also added to the list.

The act

The Magnitsky Act is a tool in US law used to unilaterally punish alleged human rights violators abroad. Among other things, the measure blocks the assets and companies of those targeted by the sanctions in the US.

Among the penalties are the freezing of bank accounts, assets, and holdings within US jurisdiction, as well as a ban on entry into the country.

In applying the sanction to Moraes, the US Department of the Treasury accused Justice Alexandre de Moraes of violating freedom of expression and authorizing “arbitrary arrests,” citing the trial of the attempted coup by Brazilian former President Bolsonaro as well as court decisions against US social media companies.

According to Treasury Secretary Scot Besset, Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions, “including against former President Jair Bolsonaro.”

The city of São Paulo and its metropolitan area still have more than 800,000 consumers without electricity, two days after strong winds caused damage in several locations.

The phenomenon was caused by the arrival of an extratropical cyclone associated with a cold front and knocked down more than 330 trees, many of which fell onto the cable network and cut off the power supply.

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At the height of the problem, the metropolitan region of São Paulo had more than 2.2 million customers without electric service. By the end of Thursday (Dec. 11), there were still 1.3 million consumers without electricity.

According to the energy distributor Enel, 802,474 customers remain without the service. In the city of São Paulo, the number is 585,000 consumers, equivalent to 10 percent of the total.

No forecast available

Enel reported that it has restored power suply to about 1.2 million customers out of a total of 2 million affected. The company did not provide a forecast for when the more than 800,000 remaining consumers will have their electric service back. Enel notes that some of the cases are complex and require the replacement of poles and transformers, which takes more time to complete.

The Brazilian government announced on Wednesday (Dec. 10) that 70.8 percent of the BRL 1.3 trillion allocated to the New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) for 2023 to 2026 has already been spent. BRL 944.8 billion has been invested through August of this year in various projects and equipment throughout the country.

At a ceremony at the Planalto presidential palace, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that many people thought it was “humanly impossible” to complete this volume of investment. He urged mayors and governors to move forward with the projects and said that it is the role of the state to mobilize resources for initiatives that reach the periphery and the poorest.

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“Now, this last part is passing the investment ball to mayors and governors, and we hope that our bureaucracy, which will make the investment, will not take too long,” he said, noting that the selection of the projects that received funds was made together with federal entities.

With an estimated BRL 1.7 trillion in public and private investments, the New PAC was launched in August 2023 by President Lula. Of the total amount, BRL 1.3 trillion is expected to be invested by 2026, with the remainder to be disbursed after that date.

An operation launched by the Federal Police on Wednesday (Dec. 10) is investigating a criminal organization responsible for luring and trafficking women in Brazil for sexual exploitation in Europe.

Four people were arrested during the operation and eight search-and-seizure warrants were executed in cities in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In addition, two arrests were made in the Spanish city of Álava with the help of Interpol.

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According to the police, the criminals lured women in Brazil, arranged for their transportation abroad, and subjected them to threats and degrading conditions of sexual exploitation in Spain.

The probe was conducted in cooperation with Spain’s National Police through Ameripol’s Specialized Center for Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro’s defense team has asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow him to leave prison to undergo surgery as recommended by his doctors. The request was submitted Tuesday (Dec. 9).

Bolsonaro is being held in a room at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, where he is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for his conviction in the criminal case involving a coup plot.

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His lawyers claim his health has deteriorated and are requesting that he be taken immediately to the DF Star Hospital in Brasília. His hospitalization should last five to seven days, they say.

“As stated by the doctor treating the petitioner, the former president needs surgery both to treat his hiccups – which are a side effect of previous surgeries – and because his unilateral inguinal hernia has worsened and also requires surgical intervention,” the petition reads.

They also asked Justice Moraes again to place Bolsonaro under house arrest. According to the defense, the prison environment is incompatible with the former president’s health condition.

There is no deadline for Justice Alexandre de Moraes to decide on the matter.

The president of the Brazilian House of Representatives, Hugo Motta, notified Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro of the administrative proceedings against him that could result in the loss of his mandate because of his absences from House sessions.

In March of this year, Eduardo Bolsonaro requested a 120-day leave of absence from his mandate and moved to the United States with his family, claiming political persecution. Since July 20, when his leave ended, the congressman has not attended sessions.

According to the official document issued by Motta on Tuesday (Dec. 9), the decree of loss of mandate may occur because he “failed to attend, in the current legislative session, one-third of the deliberative sessions of the House of Representatives.” This rule is set out in paragraph 3 of article 55 of the Brazilian Constitution.

The notification states that the congressman may respond in writing within five business days.

Defense

In an Instagram post, the congressman criticized the process that could remove him from office. He stated that the process may disrespect the more than 700,000 votes he received by “removing an innocent parliamentarian.” He said that he is not in Brazil only because he cannot return.

Defendant

Eduardo Bolsonaro, who may lose his mandate, is a defendant in the Brazilian Supreme Court for the crime of coercion. In September, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro was indicted by the Attorney General’s Office in an investigation into the congressman’s actions with US authorities to pressure the trial that convicted his father for attempting a coup d’état.

The decline in inflation and the economic slowdown led the Brazilian Central Bank to leave interest rates unchanged. Unanimously, the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) kept the Selic rate, the economy’s benchmark interest rate, at 15 percent per year.

In a statement, Copom gave no indication of when it might begin to cut interest rates. As in its last meeting, it reiterated that the current scenario is marked by significant uncertainty, which requires caution in monetary policy, and that the bank’s strategy is to maintain the current Selic rate for an extended period.

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“The committee believes that the present strategy of maintaining the current interest rate for a prolonged period is appropriate to ensure that inflation converges with the target. The committee emphasizes that it will remain vigilant, that future monetary policy steps may be adjusted, and that, as usual, it will not hesitate to resume the adjustment cycle if it deems it appropriate,” the statement said.

This is the fourth consecutive meeting in which Copom has kept the basic interest rate unchanged. The rate is at its highest level since July 2006, when it stood at 15.25 percent per year. The Selic rate reached 15 percent per year at the June meeting and has remained at that level since.

Inflation

The Selic rate is the Central Bank’s main tool for curbing Brazil’s official inflation, as gauged by consumer price index IPCA. In November, it stood at 0.18 percent, the lowest level for the month since 2018. With this result, the index has accumulated a 4.46 percent increase over 12 months, returning to within the ceiling of the continuous inflation target.

Under the new continuous target system, in effect since January, the inflation target to be pursued by the Central Bank, as defined by the National Monetary Council, is 3 percent, with a tolerance interval of 1.5 percentage points above or below. In other words, the lower limit is 1.5 percent and the upper limit is 4.5 percent.

In this model, the target is calculated monthly based on the accumulated inflation over the previous 12 months.

The basic interest rate is applied in government bond trading through the Special Settlement and Custody System (Selic) and serves as a benchmark for other interest rates in the economy.

Brazil’s Ministry of Planning and Budget confirmed Wednesday (Dec. 10) that the country’s minimum wage will be adjusted from the current BRL 1,518 (USD 276.70) to BRL 1,621 (USD 295.53), an increase of BRL 103 (USD 18.78) – or 6.79 percent.

The amount was confirmed after the release of the National Consumer Price Index (INPC), used to calculate the annual minimum wage adjustment. The indicator registered 0.03 percent in October and has increased 4.18 percent in 12 months.  

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The minimum wage adjustment will be applied in January 2026, affecting the wages workers receive in February.

Brazil’s official inflation closed out November at 0.18 percent, bringing the country’s price index IPCA to 4.46 percent over 12 months.

As a result, the IPCA returns to the government’s target range of up to 4.5 percent for the 12-month period. In the 12-month span ending in October, the rate was 4.68 percent. The index had been outside the tolerance range for 13 months. 

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The data were released Wednesday (Dec. 10) by the statistics bureau IBGE.

The November figure is the lowest for the month since 2018, when the variation stood at -0.21 percent.

In October, the IPCA had been 0.09 percent. The main impact on the acceleration from October to November was the price of airline tickets, which rose 11.9 percent, representing 0.07 percentage points of the total inflation for the month.

Target

The government’s inflation target is three percent over 12 months, with a tolerance of 1.5 percentage points above or below – a maximum of 4.5 percent.

Since the beginning of 2025, the target assessment period has been based on the previous 12 months, rather than just the end of the year (December). The target is considered unmet if the tolerance range is exceeded for six consecutive months.

According to research manager Fernando Gonçalves, if December inflation stays at up to 0.56 percent, the country will end the year with the IPCA at the upper limit of the government’s target. The December result will be announced on January 9.

The IPCA calculates the cost of living for families with incomes between one and 40 minimum wages. In total, prices are collected for 377 products and services. As it stands today, the minimum wage is BRL 1,518 (USD 277.18). Prices are collected in ten metropolitan areas across Brazil.

Interest rates

On Wednesday night, the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) is expected to announce the Brazilian benchmark interest rate, the Selic, currently at 15 percent per year — the highest level since July 2006 (15.25%).

The upward trend began in September last year, due to the Central Bank’s concern about rising inflation.

The Selic is the government’s main instrument for combating inflation. High interest rates make credit more expensive and discourage investment and consumption, thus acting as a brake on the economy, reducing demand for products and services and cooling inflation as a result.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law increasing control over individuals under investigation and convicted of crimes against sexual dignity. The new piece of legislation also reinforces efforts in prevention, accountability, and victim support.

To ensure stricter punishment for these crimes – which mainly affect vulnerable individuals such as children, adolescents, and people with disabilities – the new law increases penalties for sexual crimes involving these groups. The maximum penalty can reach 40 years of imprisonment.

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The law also incorporates into the Brazilian Penal Code the crime of non-compliance with emergency protective measures, punishable by imprisonment of two to five years. The move aims to extend this protection, previously only included in the Maria da Penha Law, which created mechanisms to curb domestic and family violence against women.

Furthermore, the new legislation makes it mandatory to collect biological material from individuals convicted of or under investigation on charges of crimes against sexual dignity, for the purpose of genetic profiling.

Enforcement

The judge can enforce measures right away, including suspending or restricting gun ownership; removing the abuser from the home where they live with the victim; banning the abuser from approaching or contacting the victim, family members, and witnesses; and restricting or suspending visits with under-age dependents.

In addition, the judge may determine the use of an electronic ankle tag and a security device that notifies the victim of the aggressor’s approach.

Custody

How people convicted of sex crimes can change the way they serve a sentence is now based on stricter rules. Only those who pass a criminal exam showing no signs of a repeat offense can serve their sentence under a better regime or leave prison.

The new law also makes electronic monitoring mandatory for those convicted of crimes against sexual dignity and crimes against women when they leave the penal facility.

Children and adolescents

With regard to Brazil’s Statute of the Child and Adolescent – a code known in the country as ECA – the new legislation extends the possibility of medical, psychological, and psychiatric care to the families of victims of sexual crimes.

Educational campaigns are expanded and targeted at new audiences, including schools, health care centers, sports organizations, non-profits, and other public spaces.

The same measures are now included in the Statute of Persons with Disabilities to ensure a more comprehensive support network for victims of crimes against sexual dignity and their families.

Brazil opened 4.6 million new small businesses from January to November 2025, a number that already exceeds the result for 2024, when 4.1 million companies were created. The data show a 19 percent increase over the same period last year, consolidating the best performance since they began to be compiled.

Small businesses accounted for 97 percent of the companies opened in the country in 2025. Among them, 77 percent are individual microentrepreneurs (MEI), 19 percent are microenterprises, and 4 percent are small businesses.

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The head of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), Décio Lima, says that the growth reflects entrepreneurs’ confidence in the economic scenario. According to him, the country is experiencing “full employment and inflation under control,” factors that encourage the opening of new businesses.

“Sixty percent of Brazilians dream of becoming entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is a gateway to inclusion, job creation, and income,” he said.

In November, the country registered the opening of 350,000 new small businesses, 28,000 more than in the same month in 2024.

Services lead new registrations

The service sector accounted for 64 percent of new businesses opened through November. In this segment, the opening of MEIs grew 24.5 percent compared to the same period in 2024. Next came commerce, with 21 percent of the total, and industry, with 7 percent.

São Paulo (29%), Minas Gerais (11%), and Rio de Janeiro (8%) were the states with the highest number of small business openings in 2025.

Natural resource production chains in the Amazon - such as cupuaçu and açaí fruits and pirarucu fish - will receive investments of BRL 96.6 million through the Forests and Communities: Living Amazon program, announced on Tuesday (Dec. 9) in Brasília.

The initiative by the National Supply Company (Conab) will be carried out with resources from the Amazon Fund and with support from the Ministries of the Environment and Climate Change and Agrarian Development and Family Farming.

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The program will be implemented over two years with the aim of expanding the supply of forest products to the consumer market, diversifying the regional menu through the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), and increasing the supply of foods originating from socio-biodiversity and family farming to the Food Acquisition Program (PAA).

“It is a legacy that we in the Brazilian government need to leave to the forest peoples. Socio-biodiversity products need to be promoted and deserve the visibility that other products important to Brazil’s economy have,” said Conab President João Edegar Pretto.

The initiative will cover 32 projects from cooperatives and associations in the Legal Amazon region, bringing together foresters, aquaculturists, extractivists, artisanal fishers, indigenous peoples, and quilombola communities.

Each proposal may receive investments of up to BRL 2.5 million for the acquisition of equipment and infrastructure aimed at boosting the commercialization of forest products in consumer markets.

The funds will be transferred to the program by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), which manages the Amazon Fund. According to BNDES’ socio-environmental director, Tereza Campello, the investment was made possible by a major effort to reduce deforestation and restructure the fund’s resources, allowing for investments that will total BRL 2.2 billion in 2025.

“This Conab initiative represents almost BRL 100 million for a strategic agenda that will reach our communities and also enable a platform where we will have all the socio-biodiversity data available in the Amazon in a professional and organized manner,” concluded Tereza Campello.

The Brazilian film The Secret Agent will compete for the 2026 Golden Globes in the categories of Best Film – Drama and Best Non-English Language Film, and its star, actor Wagner Moura, has been nominated in the Best Actor category. The nominations were revealed Monday (Dec. 8).

The film directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho was highly praised by both Brazilian and international critics and was extremely well received at festivals over the past few months. Wagner Moura’s performance is also noteworthy, with a number of experts stating that both the film and the actor should be among the nominees for the 2026 Oscars.

Notícias relacionadas:

• “The Secret Agent” to represent Brazil at 2026 Oscars.
• Fernanda Torres wins Golden Globe for “I’m Still Here”.
• Brazil: "I'm Still Here" wins Oscar for Best International Feature.

In January this year, Fernanda Torres won the 2025 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Film for her performance in I’m Still Here.

On Monday (Dec. 8), Brazil’s national drug authority Anvisa published the registration of the dengue vaccine developed by the Butantan Institute in the country’s federal gazette.

The Ministry of Health intends to begin administering doses in 2026, free of charge, through the SUS, the country’s national heal care network.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Dengue: Brazil launches first single-dose vaccine.
• Brazilian creator of dengue-blocking Aedes honored by Nature.

In a statement, Anvisa reported that the publication makes official the conclusion of the regulatory process and enables the production and sale of the vaccine, which will be offered exclusively through the public health system.

“The registration is a milestone in the fight against dengue in Brazil. The vaccine has undergone all the technical and regulatory stages required by health legislation, ensuring its safety, quality, and efficacy,” the text reads.

The statement also mentions that the vaccine is tetravalent and combats the four serotypes of dengue, in addition to being administered in a single dose. “This is the first dengue vaccine to be produced by a Brazilian laboratory,” the watchdog added.

The note stresses that, despite the registration, the Butantan Institute must continue additional studies on the vaccine and actively monitor its use by the general population.

The dose approved by Anvisa is indicated for people aged 12 to 59 – a profile that, according to the note, may be expanded in the future, depending on new studies.

In November, the institute reported that 1 million doses of the vaccine were ready for distribution. It estimates that more than 30 million doses will be available by mid-2026.

Partnership

The inoculation, named Butantan-DV, was developed by the Butantan Institute through a partnership coordinated by the Ministry of Health with the Chinese company WuXi Vaccines.

The new dose uses live attenuated virus technology, already used in other vaccines in use in Brazil and worldwide – such as the MMR vaccine, the yellow fever vaccine, the polio vaccine, and some flu vaccines.

Butantan-DV is reported as showing an overall efficacy of 74.7 percent against symptomatic dengue in people aged 12 to 59. This means that in 74 percent of cases, the disease was prevented by the vaccine. The dose also demonstrated 89 percent protection against severe forms of the disease.