• Highlights

• In 2022, approximately 53.97% (or 914,746 persons) of the Indigenous population lived in urban areas, while 46.03% (or 780,090 Indigenous persons) lived in rural areas. In 2010, there were 324,834 (or 36.22%) Indigenous persons in urban areas, while 572,083 (or 63.78%) lived in rural areas. From 2010 to 2022, the Indigenous population in urban areas grew by 181.6%, or an increase of 589,912 persons.
• The changes in the urban Indigenous population from 2010 to 2022 are not only due to demographic components or movements between urban and rural areas, but also to a better capture of the Indigenous persons by the 2022 Census, including those living in urban areas. The median age of the urban Indigenous population outside indigenous lands is 32 years old. The rural Indigenous population within Indigenous lands has a median age of 18 years old. Among Indigenous persons, the male population exceeds the female population in several categories, reaching 106.65 men for every 100 women in rural areas outside Indigenous lands. However, in urban areas outside Indigenous lands, the sex ratio of Indigenous persons (89.37 men for every 100 women) is lower than that of the country's urban population (91.97 men for every 100 women). From 2010 to 2022, illiteracy among Indigenous persons has seen significant reductions. There was a drop of 8.35 percentage points in the illiteracy rate of Indigenous persons and of 11.5 percentage points in the illiteracy rate among Indigenous persons living within Indigenous Lands. However, these rates (15.05% and 20.8%, respectively) are still above the average for the country's population (7.0%). The greatest reductions in illiteracy rates occurred among the Indigenous population living in rural areas.
• Even in urban areas, the Indigenous population's access to sanitation services is lower than that of the country's average population. While 97.28% of the country's urban population lived in housing units with water piped into the homes and coming from a general distribution network, well, spring or mine, among Indigenous persons living in urban areas this percentage was 86.67%.
• Among Indigenous persons living in urban areas outside Indigenous lands, the level of precariousness in access to water is 3.7 times higher (10.08%) than that of the country's urban population (2.72%).
• Approximately 83.05% of the country's urban population lives in housing units connected to the general or rainwater sewage network, or with a septic tank or filter tank. However, only 59.24% of the Indigenous population living in urban areas and outside Indigenous lands had access to this type of basic sanitation in 2022.

The Indigenous population living in urban areas in 2022 reached 914,746 persons, or 53.97% of the total Indigenous population in the country. In 2010, this population was 324,834 persons, or 36.22% of the total Indigenous population. From 2010 to 2022, the Indigenous population in urban areas increased by 181.6%, or 589,912 more persons compared to 2010. The Indigenous population in rural areas reached 780,090 persons, or 46.03% of the Indigenous population in the country, growing by 36.36% since 2010, equivalent to 208,007 more Indigenous persons.

For Marta Antunes, IBGE Coordinator of the Census of Traditional personss and Communities “the variations in the Indigenous population from 2010 to 2022 are not exclusively due to demographic components or population movements between urban and rural areas, but also to the methodological improvements of the 2022 Census, which allowed for better capture of the Indigenous persons, including those living in urban areas”.

The information is from the 2022 Population Census: Indigenous persons - Main Characteristics of Persons and Housing Units, by Urban and Rural Situation: Population results, released today (19) by the IBGE.

The disclosure event will take place starting at 10 am at Casa Brasil-IBGE, downtown Rio de Janeiro. There will be a live broadcast on Digital IBGE. The data can be accessed on the IBGE website and on platforms such as SIDRA, Census Overview and Geographic Interactive Platform (PGI), and on the latter two, they can also be viewed through interactive maps.

The dissemonation will be take place together with that of the 2022 Population Census: Indigenous Localities. You can read about Indigenous localities here.

The previous releases of the 2022 Census have already shown that the country's population reached 203,080,756 persons. The urban population was 177,508,417 residents (or 87.41% of the total), while 25,572,339 persons (or 12.59% of the total) lived in rural areas.

The Indigenous population of Brazil was 1,694,836 persons in 2022, corresponding to 0.83% of the country's total population. In 2010, this population was 896,917 Indigenous persons, or 0.47% of the country's population. Between 2010 and 2022, the Indigenous population in the country increased by 88.96%.

GO, RJ and DF had the highest percentages of Indigenous persons in urban areas in 2022

The highest percentages of Indigenous persons living in urban areas in 2022 were observed in Goiás (95.52%), Rio de Janeiro (94.59%) and Federal District (91.84%). On the other hand, the states with the highest proportions of Indigenous persons living in rural areas in 2022 were Mato Grosso (82.66%), Maranhão (79.54%) and Tocantins (79.05%).

Of the 5,570 municipalities in the country, 4,833 have an Indigenous population. In Amazonas, 59 (95.16%) of the 62 municipalities that are home to 28.44% of the country's Indigenous population had a percentage loss of Indigenous population in rural areas. A similar scenario of loss of Indigenous population in rural areas occurred in Roraima (11 of the 15 municipalities) and Acre (15 of the 22 municipalities).

Median age of Indigenous persons ranges from 18 in rural areas to 32 in urban areas

The median age divides a population into two equal parts, separating its younger half from the older half. The median age of Indigenous persons is 25 years old, 10 years younger than that of the country's population (35 years).

The median age of the Indigenous population living in urban areas and outside Indigenous lands was 32 years old in 2022. Indigenous persons living in rural areas and within Indigenous lands had a median age of 18 years old, that is, half of this population was up to 18 years of age.

Urban areas outside Indigenous lands have predominance of women

The sex ratio of the Indigenous population shows that, within Indigenous lands, there were 104.9 men for every hundred women. In Indigenous lands in urban areas, there were 101.55 men for every hundred women. In Indigenous lands in rural areas, there were 105.33 for every hundred women.

Furthermore, in rural areas outside Indigenous lands, there were 106.65 men for every hundred women. However, in urban areas outside Indigenous lands, there were 89.37 men for every hundred women.

Illiteracy among the Indigenous population declined in all areas from 2010 to 2022

From 2010 to 2020, the illiteracy rate among the Indigenous population declined from 23.40% to 15.05%. Among Indigenous persons living in rural areas, this rate fell from 32.16% to 20.80%. For Indigenous persons living in urban areas, this rate fell from 12.29% to 10.86%.

Within Indigenous lands, the illiteracy rate fell from 32.30% to 20.80% from 2010 to 2022. In the same period, the illiteracy rate among the country's average population fell from 9.62% to 7.00%.

Proportion of registered Indigenous children exceeds 90%, but is lower than the national average

In the 2022 Census, the existence of birth records was surveyed for all persons up to 5 years of age. In the country's population in this age group, 99.32% were registered in a registry office or had an Administrative Record of Indigenous Birth (RANI).

Indigenous children up to five years of age who live outside Indigenous lands and in urban areas have the highest proportions of existence of registry office birth records or RANI (97.57%), with registry office birth records accounting for 93.33% of birth records for this Indigenous subgroup. A level of birth records closer to the resident population, which is 99.32% in 2022, than to the Indigenous population as a whole, which is 94.09%.

Indigenous children up to five years of age who live outside Indigenous lands in rural areas have the second highest proportion of birth records in a registry office or RANI, at 96.74%, with birth records in a registry office accounting for 93.33% of birth records and 91.97% of birth records for this Indigenous subgroup.

Indigenous population in urban areas has less access to sanitation services

In Brazil, 97.28% of the urban population lived in hoousing units connected to the general water supply network or to a well, spring, or mine that was piped into the housing unit. Among Indigenous persons living in urban areas and outside Indigenous lands, this percentage was 89.92%. In other words, 13.33% of the Indigenous population living in urban areas and outside Indigenous lands had access to water in more precarious conditions, while for the average urban population in the country this percentage was 2.72%.

A similar situation occurs in relation to sanitation. Approximately 83.05% of the country's urban population lives in housing units connected to the general or rainwater sewage network, or with a septic tank or filter tank, which are considered adequate. However, only 59.24% of the Indigenous population living in urban areas and outside Indigenous lands had access to this type of basic sanitation in 2022.

Furthermore, even outside Indigenous lands and living in urban areas, the proportion of Indigenous residents with precarious waste disposal (5.83%) is four times higher than that of the country's urban population (1.43%).

For Marta Antunes, “traditional personss living in remote territories, predominantly in rural areas, could not have the same percentages of access to basic sanitation as the average of the country's population. However, the 2022 Census shows that, even when living in urban areas and outside their officially recognized territories, the Indigenous population has less access to basic sanitation services than the country's population as a whole.”

Average number of residents per permanent private housing units among Indigenous persons ranges from 3.32 to 4.63

In 2022, Brazil had around 72.5 million permanent private housing units, with 2.79 residents per housing units. The average number of residents within Indigenous lands was 4.59 persons. In permanent private housing units within Indigenous lands and in rural areas, this average is slightly higher: 4.63 persons.

However, in permanent private housing units located outside Indigenous lands and in urban areas, the average number of residents was lower (3.32 persons), as was the average number of residents outside Indigenous lands and in rural areas (3.62 persons).

Households of the Indigenous population have a higher presence of grandchildren

In the percentage distribution of residents in households with at least one Indigenous resident, the categories of spouse or partner of the same sex, pensioner, domestic worker and relative of the domestic worker stand out, including those in Indigenous Lands. In households with at least one Indigenous resident, the proportion of same-sex spouses was 0.54%, and 0.12% in households on Indigenous lands. In the total population of the country, this percentage was 0.54% in 2022.

The presence of grandchildren is around 7.0%, indicating the existence of intergenerational coexistence within households with at least one Indigenous person. This proportion of grandchildren is 3 percentage points higher than the proportion in households of the country's population (4.0%).

It is important to note the relative weight of the children of the head of household and the spouse in households with Indigenous presence, which is higher when the head of household is Indigenous (26.36%) than when the head of household is non-Indigenous (21.16%). This gap widens within Indigenous lands, with the relative weight of the children of the head of household and the spouse being 37.88% when the head of household is Indigenous and 28.34% when the head of household is non-Indigenous. For comparison purposes, this weight in the total households is 19.2%.

More about the survey

With this publication, the IBGE expands the official portrait of Indigenous persons, consolidating demographic statistics (sex, age, aging rate, median age and sex ratio) and social statistics (literacy and illiteracy status of those aged 15 or over, existence of birth certificates issued by a Notary's Office or Administrative Record of Indigenous Birth (RANI) for children up to 5 years of age, characteristics of housing units with at least one Indigenous resident, family composition and reported deaths). This information is disaggregated according to the urban and rural contexts of their residences and constitutes important attributes for the understanding of reality and the exercise of citizenship of these peoples.

The territorial divisions presented cover Brazil, the Major Regions, Federation Units, Municipalities, Legal Amazon, Legal Amazon by Federation Units, Indigenous Lands and Indigenous Lands by Federation Units.