• Highlights

• In 2023, 93.4% of the housing units in urban areas had a general network as the source of water supply against 32.3% in rural areas. In percentage terms, the rural area in the Northeast is area mostly served by a general network of water supply (43.9%).
• In 2023, 98.1% of the Brazilian housing units had an exclusive bathroom, and 69.9%, sewage draining was made through either a general network or a septic tank connected to the general network.
• In urban areas, 99.4% of the housing units had an exclusive bathroom and 78.0% accessed the sewage general network. In rural areas, 88.4% of the housing units had an exclusive bathroom, and 9.6% had sewage draining through either a general network or septic tank connected to the general network.
• The main destination of garbage in Brazil is the direct collection through a waste collection service, whose percentage was 86.1% in 2023. within the property.
• In 2023, the parcel of the population aged under 30 years was 42.8% and that aged over 60 years, 15.5%, indicating a trend of population ageing.
• Between 2012 and 2023, the percentage of the population who self-declared as of white color or race fell 3.9 percentage points (p.p.), changing from 46.3% in 2012 to 42.4% in 2023, the lowest percentage in the time series.
• The proportion of persons who self-declared as black persons rose from 7.4% in 2012 to 10.6% in 2023, repeating the level registered in 2022.
• Single-person domestic units, i.e., those comprising only one resident, grew, changing from 12.2% in 2012 to 18.0% in 2023, an increase of 5.8 p.p.
• Men and women living alone showed remarkable differences in terms of the age profile: 56.4% of men in single-person arrangements aged between 30 and 59 years, whereas 55.0% of women were in the range aged 60 years and over.

In 2023, 85.9% of the housing units had access to a general network of water supply. That percentage was 93.4% in urban areas and 32.3% in rural areas. A general network was the major source of water supply in every Major Region, varying from 60.4% in the North Region to 91.8% in the Southeast Region. Considering the rural areas only, no region reached 50%, and the Northeast Region stood out by hitting the percentage of 43.9% of the housing units with a general network as the major form of water supply. The information comes from the Continuous PNAD: Characteristics of households and residents, released today (20) by the IBGE.

"In the time series of the survey, the percentage of rural housing units in the Northeast Region with water supplied by a general network has been higher than the rest of the country. In states like Sergipe and Bahia, that proportion is higher than 50%. These percentages demonstrate the results of public policies implemented over the years to fight against drought in the region, which take years to be effective," points out Willian Kratochwill, an analyst of the Continuous PNAD.

Among the housing units located in urban areas, 93.4% had a general network as the major form of water supply in 2023, varying from 70.2% in the North Region to 96.4% in the Southeast. Except for the North Region, more than 90% of urban housing units had a general network as the major form of water supply.

In Brazil, the use of artesian wells (7.6%), shallow wells (2.7%), springs (1.9%) or any other form (1.9%) was the major supply showed estimates below 10%.

The North Region recorded the highest percentages of housing units in which the major source of water supply were artesian (20.7%) or shallow wells (11.3%). The Northeast Region, in turn, reported the highest percentage of using another form of supply (5.4%), being 1.9% the national average of this type.

In general, most Brazilian rural housing units resorted to other form of water supply: 29.8%, through artesian wells; 12.8%, shallow wells; 13.2%, springs; and 11.9% were mainly supplied by other forms, including rivers, dams and tank trucks.

"The data now released by the Continuous PNAD refer to 2023, following the time series of the survey and its last re-weighting, which occurred in 2022. Part of the indicators have already been released by the data of the 2022 Census, confirming the trend that PNAD has already identified. It should be reminded that PNAD will be reweighted based on the Census data. After this process, the time series of PNAD will be updated," explains Kratochwill.

Less than 10% of rural housing units have access to general sewage network

In 2023, 98.1% of the Brazilian housing units had an exclusive bathroom, and 69.9%, sewage draining was made through either a general network or a septic tank connected to the general network. In urban areas, 99.4% of the housing units had an exclusive bathroom and 78.0% accessed the sewage general network.

Among rural housing units, 88.4% had an exclusive bathroom, whereas only 9.6% had their sewage drained through either a general network or septic tank connected to the general network.

The proportion of housing units with access to a general sewage network registered more significant regional differences: the North and Northeast regions showed the smallest coverages, with 32.7% and 50.8%, respectively; the Southeast Region recorded the largest one, with 89.9%; and the South and Central-West, in their turn, reached 68.3% and 61.1%, respectively.

"It is important to emphasize the diversity existing in the Brazilian rural areas concerning those aspects. The coverage of some services of basic sanitation is feasible in rural areas in the outskirts of urban centers, whereas more isolated areas or those with a lower population density might require local or individual solutions, like the installation of septic tanks not connected to the collection network and the use of artesian wells to supply water," contextualizes the analyst.

In rural areas, 51.0% of the housing units burn their garbage within the property.

The major destination of garbage in Brazil is the direct collection through a waste collection service, whose percentage rose from 82.7% in 2016 to 86.1% in 2023. This type prevails in every region, varying from 75.8% in the Northeast Region to 91.6% in the Central-West. Although it registered the lowest percentage of coverage of that service, the Northeast Region recorded the biggest expansion of this indicator in relation to 2016 (from 67.4% to 75.8%).

Among urban housing units, 93.4% showed the collection directly through a waste collection service as the main destination of garbage. In regional terms, that percentage changed from 88.6% in the Northeast Region to 97.5% in the Central-West. On the other hand, the main destination to garbage in rural areas was burning within the property (51.0%), followed by direct collection through a waste collection service (33.4%) and collection in containers of waste collection services (10.9%).

Electricity reaches nearly every housing unit, though access to alternative sources is still important

In 2023, access to electricity in housing units hit the coverage of 99.8% of the united provided with this service. In 99.4% of the total number of housing units, electricity came from the general network and it was available full time in 98.7% of the cases.

In the analysis by household status, electricity was highly available both in urban (99.9%) and rural areas (99.0%).

However, the percentage of the housing units with electricity coming from a general network was lower (97.0%) in rural housing units, especially in the North Region (82.4%). Considering the general network and alternative sources, 95.6% of the rural housing units had access to electricity in that region, which reveals the importance of alternative sources as the single source of this service for a parcel of housing units in rural areas.

North Region has lowest proportion of housing units with walls of masonry or coated stucco: 70.3%

In 2023, 89.1% of the Brazilian housing units had their outside walls built with masonry or coated stucco, expanding in relation to 2022, when they represented 88.6%. In contrast, housing units with outside walls of masonry/uncoated stucco were 6.5% of the total, below the rate of 3.9% registered in 2022.

Housing units with outside walls of construction wood (plywood) represented 3.9%, the same as in 2022. Those with other material, like wood coming from sidings and packages were 0.5% in 2022 and 2023.

In every region, housing units with outside walls either of masonry or coated stucco prevailed, varying from 70.3% in the North Region to 94.6% in the Southeast Region. The highest percentages of housing units with outside walls either of masonry or uncoated stucco were reported in the Northeast (9.6%) and North (9.2%) regions.

In the North and South regions, the presence of housing units with outside walls of construction wood (plywood), with proportions of 19.1% and 14.3%, respectively, revealed quite higher than the national average (3.9%).

Most Brazilian housing units (81.7%) had floor of ceramics, terracotta or stone

Concerning the material prevailing in floors, 81.7% of the housing units used ceramics, terracotta or stone in 2023. In 11.7%, cement floor prevailed, whereas construction wood prevailed in 6.1% (4.8 million). Other material, including wood from packages, sidings or scaffolds, was used in 0.6% (428 thousand) of the housing units.

The predominance of floors of ceramics, terracotta or stone in the housing units was noticed in every region, varying from 69.6% in the North Region to 89.2% in the Southeast. The South (18.9%) and North (10.8%) regions registered the highest percentages of housing units with floors of construction wood. The Northeast (25.8%) and North (18.4%) regions recorded percentages of housing units with cement floor higher than the national average (11.7%).

"In relation to 2026, every Major Region reduced the proportion of housing units with cement floor and increased the proportion of those with ceramics, terracotta or stone, a trend especially noticed in the North, Northeast and Central-West regions," highlights Kratochwill.

In the Southeast, more than half of the housing units had tiles with concrete slab.

In 2023, 49.4% of the housing units had tiles without concrete slab as the prevailing material on the roof; 33.0%, tiles with concrete slab; 14.8%, concrete slab only; and 2.7% used other type of material.

The Southeast Region was the only one to register a percentage of housing units covered by tiles with concrete slab (50.8%) higher than those with tiles without concrete slab (25.0%). In the other regions, the coverage of tiles without concrete slab prevailed, especially in the North, in which the estimate hit 77.4%. The Southeast Region also had the highest share of housing units in which the coverage involved a concrete slab only (23.2%). In the North Region, 8.6% of the housing units used other material, not previously mentioned, for the coverage.

"In relation to 2016, the major changes noticed in Brazil were the drop in the percentage of housing units covered with tiles without concrete slab from 52.0% to 49.4%, and the increase in the proportion of those covered with tiles with concrete slab from 31.8% to 33.0%," highlights Kratochwill.

Proportion of own housing units already paid drops and of rented, grows between 2016 and 2023

Between 2016 and 2023, a continuous reduction in the percentage of own housing units already paid was noticed, changing from 66.7% in 2016 to 62.3% in 2023.

During that period, the percentage of rented housing units increased from 18.5% in 2016 to 22.4% in 2023.

One out of four housing units has motorcycle

In 2023, 48.1% of the housing units had a car in Brazil, 24.6%, motorcycle, and 12.6%, both of them. The South Region had the highest percentage of ownership of cars (67.5%), whereas the Northeast and North regions registered the lowest proportions of this good (27.6% and 30.6%, respectively). On the other hand, the Northeast and North recorded the highest percentages of ownership of motorcycles (35.4% and 32.6%, respectively), higher than the proportion of cars in the housing units. The Central-West Region had the highest percentage of ownership of both goods (17.3%).

Proportion of elderly persons grows in every Major Region

The distribution of the population by age group shows an ageing trend of the population. In 2012, the population aged under 30 years was 49.8% of the total, changing to 42.8% in 2023. In contrast, the population aged 30 years and over grew in the 2012-2023 period, changing from 50.1% to 57.2%.

"The parcel of persons aged 60 years and over changed from 11.3% to 15.5%. Among the elderly persons, the expansion in the share of persons aged 65 years and over stood out, hitting 10.8% of the entire population in 2023," explains Kratochwill.

The north Region reported the biggest concentration of the younger population, with 41.8% of its population aged under 24 years in 2023. The biggest concentrations of the population aged 60 years and over, in turn, occurred in the Southeast (17.6%) and South (16.8%) regions, and the smallest one in the North Region (10.6%). "That is a characteristic of the Brazilian population: younger persons in the North and Northeast and an older population in the South and Southeast," explains the analyst, who also highlights that the share of the elderly population grew in all the Major Regions compared with 2012.

In 2023, women corresponded to 51.1% of the Brazilian population, whereas men added up to 48.9%. "No relevant changes in the share were estimated in relation to 2012," notes the analyst.

Male population shows a younger pattern than the female one. In 2023, men had a higher estimate than women for all age groups up to 24 years. In the age group between 25 and 29 years, the contingents of men and women were quite close, standing around 4.0% of the total population. From 30 years onwards, however, the percentage of women was higher than of men in all age ranges.

As the mortality of men is higher than that of women in each age group, a higher concentration of women is noticed among the elderly population. The sex ratio calculated for the population aged 60 years and over was 78.7 men for every 100 women, and 71.6 for elderly persons aged 70 years and over.

Percentage of white persons hit the lowest percentage between 2012 and 2023; South Region records the biggest drop

Between 2012 and 2023, the percentage of the population who self-declared as white color or race fell 3.9 percentage points (p.p.), changing from 46.3% in 2012 to 42.4% in 2023, the lowest percentage in the time series. The proportion of persons who self-declared as black persons rose from 7.4% in 2012 to 10.6% in 2023, repeating the level registered in 2022.

The brown color or race population registered a slight change in relation to 2012, from 45.6% to 45.9%, even surpassing the level of 47% in some years of the time series.

The share of the population declared of white color or race reduced in every Major Region between 2012 and 2023, highlighted by the South Region (7.5 p.p.). The South Region also recorded the highest growth of people declared as brown (5.7 p.p.). The Northeast Region reported a major expansion in the share of persons of black color or race (4.2 p.p.). "Therefore, the profile of color or race began to change in Brazil," assesses Kratochwill.

Adult men and elderly women are the majority of those living alone

The most frequent household arrangement was the nuclear one, which corresponded to 65.9% of the total number of households, though it dropped in relation to 2012 (68.3%). The nuclear arrangement consists of a single core formed by a couple, with or without children (including adoptive and foster children) or stepchildren. The domestic units comprising a mother with children or a father with children are nuclear ones as well, the so-called single-parent families.

The extended unit, comprising the responsible person with at least one relative, forming a family not fitting in one of the types described as nuclear, corresponded to 14.8% in 2023, a reduction of 3.1 p. p    . in relation to 2012.

Single-person domestic units i.e., those comprising only one resident, grew in the period, changing from 12.2% to 18.0%, a growth of 5.8 p.p. The analysis of the age pattern of persons in single-person arrangements showed that 12.1% had between 15 and 29 years; 47.0% were in the range between 30 and 59 years; and 40.9% were persons aged 60 years and over.

Women were 45.1% of the persons living alone in 2023, whereas men were 54.9%. The age profile between men and women living alone showed significant differences: 56.4% of men in single-person arrangements were aged between 30 and 59 years, followed by those aged 60 years and over (29.4%); and, among women, most of them were in the range aged 60 years and over (55.0%).

More about the survey

The Continuous PNAD: General Characteristics of Housing Units and Residents gathers information on the type and condition of the occupation, material prevailing in walls, floor and roof, basic sanitation and electricity services and ownership of goods, data relative to the characterization of housing units.

On the other hand, the characterization of residents shows information on the distribution of the population, sex and age groups, color or race and domestic units (household arrangements). The data are disaggregated for Brazil, Major Regions, Federation Units, Metropolitan Areas and Municipalities of Capitals.