Based on data from Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, the House of Representatives reported that, among the 513 federal representatives elected this Sunday (Oct. 4), 183 will serve their first term. This figure represents a renewal rate of 35.67 percent of the House’s members. The lawmakers will represent the states and the Federal District during the 58th legislative session, from February 1, 2027, to January 31, 2031.

According to the House of Representatives, the percentage of new members (35.6%) remains in line with the House’s average renewal rate of 39.3 percent compared with the previous election.

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Meanwhile, a total of 301 federal lawmakers were reelected, representing 58.6 percent of those elected in October 2022. There are also 29 former federal representatives from previous legislatures who have returned to the House.

Black and brown elected officials

Candidates who self-identified as black or brown won 135 seats in the House of Representatives, accounting for 26.3 percent of the 513 federal lawmakers. This figure represents a 2.9 percent decline from the 139 black and brown federal legislators elected in 2022.

In terms of race and skin color, the Superior Electoral Court’s database recorded a total of 10,206 candidacies by black people for all elective offices in the 2026 election, accounting for 49.64 percent of the total.

Indigenous people

Among those elected who self-identified as indigenous, only three candidates secured four-year terms in the House of Representatives to continue advocating for indigenous peoples and their territories. One of them is Sônia Guajajara, the current head of the first Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, created during President Lula’s administration. She was elected by the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL).

With this result, the number of indigenous representatives has shrunk to approximately 0.58 percent of the 513 legislators, compared with the 2022 election, when five indigenous candidates were elected to the House.

In total, the Electoral Court registered 73 candidacies by indigenous people for tha House of Representatives.

Gender

On Sunday (4), 108 women were elected to the next session of the House of Representatives, making it the largest female delegation in the House’s history.

This figure represents an 18.68 percent increase compared with 2022 - that is, 17 more women than the 91 elected in the previous election.

Damares Medina, a lawyer and professor with a Ph.D. in Constitutional Law, celebrates this historic number of women, even though they hold different political positions on key issues.

“Because it doesn’t matter - each in her own way - they convey the message that a woman’s place is wherever she wants it to be.”

Party

The Liberal Party (PL) won the largest bloc in the House and expanded its delegation to 121 legislators for the next legislative session. That is 24 more than in the previous election.

Medina explains the significance of having the largest delegation in the House of Representatives. “It’s important because every seat is power. Each one represents influence, dynamics, and the factors that will determine how authority is distributed in the Congress.”

The second-largest caucus was the Brazil of Hope Federation, comprising the Workers’ Party (PT), the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), and the Green Party (PV). It has 88 representatives, six more than in the previous election.

The lawyer interviewed by Rádio Nacional explains that the formation of large party blocs ensures that priorities are addressed. “Once formed, these blocs wield immense power over budget allocation and the distribution of parliamentary amendments.”

Damares Medina also interprets the message sent by voters this Sunday by electing more lawmakers from the conservative spectrum to Congress, marking a significant shift in the balance of power between opposing political camps. She notes that this is not a recent development.

“If we analyze the historical data since the 1988 [Federal] Constitution, we can see that, little by little, the left wing has been losing the ideological battle and the intellectual debate,” said the constitutional lawyer.

Top-voted candidates

The election also set new voting records. Nikolas Ferreira (PL), a 30-year-old congressman reelected from Minas Gerais state, received more than 3.11 million votes, making him the most-voted lawmaker in the country’s history. He surpassed his own record from the previous election in 2022, when he was also the country’s most-voted candidate, with 1.47 million votes.

Coming in second among the top vote-getters for the House of Representatives, with 3,038,438 votes, was Lucas Pavanato (PL), 28, who currently serves as a city councilor in São Paulo and is a YouTuber. His total was nearly double that of the runner-up in the state, Congresswoman Erika Hilton (PSOL), who was reelected with 1,596,472 votes. The legislator, who currently chairs the House’s Commission for the Defense of Women’s Rights, set a record for the most votes received by a female member of the House.

*Priscilla Mazenotti, a reporter for Rádio Nacional/EBC, contributed to this report.

The percentage of young Brazilians who are neither studying, working, nor participating in training or education fell by 4.4 percentage points from 2016 to 2024, as per the report Education at a Glance 2026, released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The rate of 18- to 24-year-olds in this situation fell from 26.8 percent in 2016 to 22.4 percent in 2024.

In a press release, the Brazilian Ministry of Education notes that the Brazilian figure is “nearly double the average reduction (2.3 percentage points) recorded by the OECD over the same period.”

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Ricardo Henriques, executive superintendent of Instituto Unibanco, acknowledges the progress but points out that it remains insufficient, as more than a quarter of young adults have not yet completed their basic education.

“The task is to build a path where young people can stay in school, learn, complete their education, and find decent employment. This depends on education, social protection, and labor policies working in a coordinated manner,” he argued.

Fewer youths without a high school diploma

Another positive finding for Brazil is that the proportion of young people aged 25 to 34 who have not completed high school decreased from 35 percent in 2016 to 26 percent in 2024. However, Brazil’s percentage is still higher than the 12 percent average observed by the OECD in the other countries analyzed.

The Ministry of Education attributes these advances to the implementation of government programs such as the Pé-de-Meia – a financial-educational incentive to encourage public high school students to stay in school and graduate – and the Bolsa Família – a cash transfer initiative that benefits families living in poverty and extreme poverty.

Finishing high school

The OECD report also highlights the gender gap in high school completion. In Brazil, women are seven percentage points more likely to complete this stage of basic education than men – a larger gap than that observed in most other countries with data available in this edition.

The international organization notes that, in Brazil, among all students who entered high school, 20 percent drop out without graduating.

Another finding from the study indicates that 79 percent of new students who entered high school completed this stage within two years of the standard expected duration of study, compared to an average completion rate of 85 percent among the countries included in the survey.

After this two-year period intended for completion, only one percent remained enrolled in school attempting to graduate.

When considering adults from different generations (ages 25 to 64) who have completed high school, Brazil’s proportion of 40 percent in 2024 is similar to the 39 percent average among OECD countries.

Higher education

In 2024, 22 percent of Brazilian adults of working age (25 to 64 years old) had completed higher education – just over half the OECD average of 43 percent.

In Ricardo Henriques’ view, the gap between Brazil and OECD countries stems from a historical educational deficit, and overcoming its consequences requires integrated actions on various fronts to ensure continued progress. These include offering more flexible courses for adults of different generations, providing financial support, and fostering coordination between technical and academic training.

“Expanding access [to higher education] must be accompanied by quality and retention policies, especially for those who struggle to balance study, work, and family responsibilities,” he pointed out.

Speaking to Agência Brasil, he said that when access to education is concentrated among a portion of the population, the country wastes talent and limits opportunities for social mobility. For the economy, this bottleneck restricts the ability to increase productivity, innovate, and adopt new technologies. “We can turn increased schooling into better opportunities for people and greater development potential for Brazil,” he declared.

The full report is available on the OECD website.