Brazil Tourism Statistics Updated November 2026

Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated

143 Brazil Tourism Statistics for 2026

Foreign visitors spent US$10,448 million in Brazil in 2025, on the central bank's travel receipts as revised in April 2026. Airlines carried a record 129.6 million passengers on domestic and international flights, and Brazil recorded 9,287,196 international tourist arrivals in 2025, the most in the government's series.

This page gathers the official figures on Brazil tourism in one place: international arrivals and the 2027 targets, why foreign visitors come and what they spend, the economy and jobs, 2026 so far, flights and cruises, Brazilians' own travel, national parks, Christ the Redeemer and Iguaçu Falls, Carnival and other events, hotels, safety and the weather. Every number links to the document that carries it, with the date.

The Ministério do Turismo counts international tourist arrivals from Polícia Federal border records. We quote only the arrival totals that the government, the ministry or Embratur print in their own releases and reports. Visitor spending is measured two ways, by a survey of visitors from five markets and by the central bank's balance of payments, and we name the measure every time.

Headline figures

How many international tourists visit Brazil?

More than ever: 2025 set a record in the government's series, and the first quarter of 2026 was the busiest first quarter on record. Arrivals through Rio de Janeiro grew fast in 2025. The national tourism plan sets a yearly target for 2027.

1.53m 2024 2.20m 2025
View data table
International tourists entering Brazil through Rio de Janeiro state's border posts, 2024 and 2025, in millions.
PeriodValue
20241.53m
20252.20m
International tourists entering Brazil through Rio de Janeiro state's border posts, 2024 and 2025, in millions. (Embratur (Rio de Janeiro briefing 2025), Mar 2026)

Arrivals are entries of non-resident tourists at the border, from Polícia Federal records compiled by the Ministério do Turismo. They count trips, not people. The ministry also publishes the records as open data by month, country and state of entry, but this page quotes only totals that the ministry or Embratur print in a report, so no full-year 2025 national total is given. Rio de Janeiro figures are entries through the state's border posts, not visits to the state: a tourist who lands in São Paulo and travels on to Rio is not counted there. Targets are the plan's goals and are not compared with outcomes.

Why do foreign tourists come to Brazil, and what do they spend?

Mostly for a holiday, and for the beaches and nature. Visitors in an Embratur survey of five markets stay well over a week, and Americans spend far more a day than Uruguayans. Almost all rate their trip well.

  1. 1 United States US$308
  2. 2 Five-market average US$175
  3. 3 Uruguay US$115
Average daily spend in Brazil by visitors in the Embratur survey, 2025, in US dollars. The five-market average, US visitors and Uruguayan visitors. (Ministério do Turismo (Embratur visitor survey 2025), Oct 2025)

These figures come from a survey of more than 8,000 travellers from five markets only (Argentina, Chile, the United States, Portugal and Uruguay) who visited Brazil in the previous 12 months, commissioned by Embratur with the card company Visa and the research firm Ipsos and published by the Ministério do Turismo in October 2025. It is a survey, not border data, and does not cover all visitors. The ministry's full international demand survey has not been published for any year after 2019. Survey spend measures something different from the central bank's travel receipts and the two are not compared.

Which places do international tourists visit in Brazil?

Rio de Janeiro, by a wide margin, on the ministry's last full survey of foreign visitors in 2019. Florianópolis and Foz do Iguaçu came next for holidays, and São Paulo led for business trips.

  1. 1 Rio de Janeiro 33.3%
  2. 2 Florianópolis 17.0%
  3. 3 Foz do Iguaçu 16.2%
  4. 4 São Paulo 9.4%
  5. 5 Armação dos Búzios 8.0%
  6. 6 Salvador 5.6%
  7. 7 Bombinhas 4.8%
Share of international leisure tourists who visited each destination, 2019, in per cent. Visitors could name several places. (Ministério do Turismo (international demand survey 2019), Jun 2020)

These figures come from the Ministério do Turismo's international demand survey for 2019, published in June 2020. It is the latest edition: the survey has not been published since the pandemic, so the figures are from before it. Visitors could name several destinations, so shares add to more than 100%. Destination shares are for leisure or business travellers only, as stated; the ratings cover all international visitors.

How much do foreign visitors spend in Brazil?

More than first reported, after a large revision by the central bank in April 2026. Brazilians spend much more on travel abroad than foreign visitors spend in Brazil, so the travel account runs a deficit.

  1. 1 Brazilians abroad US$21.98bn
  2. 2 Foreign visitors in Brazil US$10.45bn
International travel spending, 2025, in US$ billion: foreign visitors in Brazil against Brazilian residents abroad. Revised central bank figures. (Banco Central do Brasil (balance of payments tables), Oct 2026)

Receipts are the central bank's (BCB) balance-of-payments travel credits: spending in Brazil by non-resident travellers, including business, study and health trips, in current US dollars. The April 2026 revision reclassified card transactions and breaks the series from October 2023, so figures published before then, including those still quoted in news reports, are lower and are not used here. Plan targets are goals set in 2024 and are not compared with outcomes. Balance-of-payments receipts measure something different from the survey spend per day in the section above.

How much is tourism worth to Brazil's economy?

There is no current official figure for tourism's share of Brazil's GDP, as IBGE has not published a tourism satellite account. The best official measures are formal jobs and IBGE's tourism activity index, and both are growing.

  1. 1 Rio de Janeiro +10.8%
  2. 2 Bahia +6.6%
  3. 3 Paraná +5.5%
  4. 4 Brazil +4.6%
  5. 5 São Paulo +3.9%
Change in the volume of tourism activities, 2025 against 2024, Brazil and selected states, in per cent. (IBGE (monthly services survey, Dec 2025), Feb 2026)

Formal tourism jobs are the ministry's monthly count of formal employment in tourism-characteristic activities, which include all restaurants and land transport, so they also serve local customers. Informal work, which is large in Brazil, is left out. IBGE's tourism index measures the revenue volume of tourism-related businesses in 17 states, not visitor numbers. Plan targets are goals, not forecasts. No official tourism share of GDP is published, so none is given.

How is Brazil tourism doing in 2026?

Foreign visitors are spending more, but tourism business revenue has dipped. Central bank receipts were up in the first nine months, while IBGE's tourism index was slightly down to August. Rio de Janeiro and Bahia are doing better than the national average.

US$7.61bn Jan-Sep 2025 US$8.38bn Jan-Sep 2026
View data table
Foreign visitors' travel spending in Brazil, January to September, 2025 and 2026, in US$ billion. Revised central bank figures.
PeriodValue
Jan-Sep 2025US$7.61bn
Jan-Sep 2026US$8.38bn
Foreign visitors' travel spending in Brazil, January to September, 2025 and 2026, in US$ billion. Revised central bank figures. (Banco Central do Brasil (balance of payments tables), Oct 2026)

2026 figures are provisional and may be revised. The ministry's first-quarter receipts figure may use a different vintage of central bank data from the October 2026 tables. IBGE's index measures business revenue volume, not visitors, so it can move differently from receipts. Carnival fell in February in 2026 and in early March in 2025, which affects comparisons of those months. FOHB figures are the hotel association's own sample of chain hotels.

How do tourists get to Brazil?

Mostly by air, and international flying set a record in 2025 for the second year running. São Paulo-Guarulhos airport handled its most passengers since its concession began.

  • Domestic 30.4m
  • International 16.8m
Passengers at São Paulo-Guarulhos airport by type of flight, 2025, in millions. Operator figures, including connections. (GRU Airport (annual report 2025), 2026)

National passenger figures are paid passengers carried by Brazilian and foreign airlines, from ANAC data presented by the Ministério de Portos e Aeroportos. International passengers include Brazilians travelling abroad, in both directions. Guarulhos figures are the operator's own airport movements, arriving and departing, including connections, so they are a different measure from passengers carried. ANAC figures quoted in the operator's report differ from the government release and are not used.

How do people get around Brazil?

By car, for most trips Brazilians make. Domestic flying is growing fast, though, and passed 100 million passengers for the first time in 2025, and average fares have fallen in real terms since 2022.

  1. 1 Car 51.1%
  2. 2 Plane 13.5%
  3. 3 Scheduled bus 13.4%
  4. 4 Tour or charter bus 6.7%
Main transport used on trips by Brazilian residents, 2024, share of trips in per cent. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)

Flight figures come from ANAC data presented by the Ministério de Portos e Aeroportos. The release does not say whether the average fare is for domestic flights only. Transport shares come from IBGE's household survey and cover trips by residents, including a small share of trips abroad.

How many cruise passengers visit Brazil?

Fewer than a year earlier, because fewer ships sailed the Brazilian coast. The share of foreign passengers rose, and cruises are still worth billions of reais on the industry's own estimates.

  1. 1 Cruise-line operating spend R$2.28bn
  2. 2 Passenger and crew spend R$2.00bn
  3. 3 Ships in transit R$0.48bn
Estimated economic impact of cruises in Brazil, 2025-2026 season, by source of spending, in R$ billion. Industry estimate. (CLIA Brasil and FGV (cruise season 2025-2026), Aug 2026)

These are the cruise industry association's figures, from studies by CLIA Brasil with Fundação Getulio Vargas. Coastal seasons run roughly from November to April. Economic impact is a model estimate that includes direct, indirect and induced effects, not an official statistic, and the study gives two scopes: coastal cruises only, and coastal cruises plus ships in transit. Cruise passengers are not the same measure as the border arrivals by sea in the ministry's data.

How much do Brazilians travel in their own country?

Less than the airline figures suggest, on IBGE's household survey. Most households made no trip in the survey period, and most trips are to see family or for leisure close to home. Health trips are a large category in Brazil.

  1. 1 Leisure 7.0m
  2. 2 Friends and family 5.7m
  3. 3 Health treatment 3.5m
Personal trips by Brazilian residents by main reason, 2024, in millions. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • In 2024, 15.0 million of Brazil's 77.8 million households (19.3%) had at least one resident who travelled, against 19.8% in 2023. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • 19.9 million trips by residents in 2024 were within Brazil (96.7%) and 688,000 were abroad (3.3%). (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • 85.5% of trips in 2024 were personal (17.6 million) and 14.5% for work (3.0 million). (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • Sun and beach accounted for 44.6% of leisure trips in 2024, down from 55.5% in 2020. Trips for culture and food gained 8.9 percentage points. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • Domestic overnight trips lasted 6.9 nights on average in 2024, up from 6.6 in 2023. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • São Paulo was the top destination state for personal trips in 2024, with 21.9% of trips, followed by Minas Gerais (10.2%) and Bahia (10.0%). 80.9% of trips stayed within the traveller's own region. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • The national tourism plan aims to raise trips by Brazilians within Brazil from 93 million to 150 million a year by 2027. (Ministério do Turismo (national tourism plan targets), Aug 2024)
  • The ministry's interim target for 2026 is 133.1 million domestic trips. (Ministério do Turismo (management report Q1 2026), 2026)

IBGE's PNAD Contínua tourism module asks households about trips in the three months before the interview, collected over the year, so it captures far fewer trips than airline or hotel counts. Spending covers only trips with spending, in nominal reais. The module did not run in 2022, and 2024 is the latest year published. The plan's domestic-trips target is counted on a different basis from IBGE's survey, and the two are not compared.

What are Brazil's most visited national parks?

Tijuca in Rio, Iguaçu and Jericoacoara, in that order. Visits to national parks rose again in 2025, and ICMBio estimates that tourism in federal protected areas adds billions of reais to the economy.

  1. 1 Tijuca (RJ) 4.9m+
  2. 2 Iguaçu (PR) 2.2m+
  3. 3 Jericoacoara (CE) 1.3m+
  4. 4 Fernando de Noronha (PE) 792k
  5. 5 Serra da Bocaina (RJ/SP) 727k+
  6. 6 Lençóis Maranhenses (MA) 654k+
  7. 7 Restinga de Jurubatiba (RJ) 335k+
  8. 8 Serra dos Órgãos (RJ) 330k+
Most visited national parks in Brazil, 2025, visits in thousands. ICMBio counts as published by the tourism ministry. (Ministério do Turismo (national parks top 10, 2025), May 2026)

ICMBio, which manages Brazil's federal protected areas, counts visits, not people: one tourist can make several visits. Federal conservation units include environmental protection areas that cover whole coastal towns, so their total is much larger than park gate counts; state and city parks are not included. The tourism ministry's release gives a lower national park total on a different basis, which is left out here. Tijuca includes the Corcovado access to Christ the Redeemer. Economic figures are ICMBio's model estimate, including indirect and induced effects.

How many people visit Christ the Redeemer and Iguaçu Falls?

Millions each year. The Corcovado train and the Paineiras vans carry similar numbers up to Christ the Redeemer, and the Iguaçu Falls concession has more visitors than any other in Brazil's federal parks.

  1. 1 Parque das Aves 895k+
  2. 2 Itaipu tourist complex 514k
  3. 3 Marco das Três Fronteiras 500k+
  4. 4 Wonder Park 241k
Visitors to other Foz do Iguaçu attractions, 2025, in thousands. Operator counts compiled by the Paraná state government. (Governo do Paraná (Foz do Iguaçu attractions 2025), Dec 2025)
  • The Corcovado train carried 1,261,953 visitors in 2024, of whom 1,220,233 paid, and took R$79.6 million gross. (ICMBio (concessions report 2024), Oct 2025)
  • The Paineiras-Corcovado road and van access to Christ the Redeemer recorded 1,246,970 visitors in 2024. (ICMBio (concessions report 2024), Oct 2025)
  • In 2023 the Corcovado train recorded 1,168,303 visitors and the Paineiras-Corcovado access 1,287,003. (ICMBio (concessions report 2023), 2024)
  • A high-season ticket to Christ the Redeemer cost R$122.50 by the Corcovado train or R$81.50 by the Paineiras vans in 2023-2024. Low-season tickets were R$97.50 and R$56.50. (ICMBio (concessions report 2023), 2024)
  • The Iguaçu Falls concession, Urbia Cataratas, registered 1,893,116 visitors in 2024, the most of any federal concession. All federal visitor-service concessions together registered 5,226,327. (ICMBio (concessions report 2024), Oct 2025)
  • Iguaçu National Park had 1,833,398 visitors under the concession in 2023. 233,725 visitors bought the Macuco boat trip to the falls, and the concession took R$211.7 million. (ICMBio (concessions report 2023), 2024)
  • In Foz do Iguaçu in 2025, Parque das Aves had more than 895,000 visitors (+9%), Itaipu's tourist complex 514,000 (+5%), Marco das Três Fronteiras more than 500,000 (+9%) and Wonder Park 241,000 (+39%). (Governo do Paraná (Foz do Iguaçu attractions 2025), Dec 2025)

Christ the Redeemer and Iguaçu figures are counts by the private concessions that run visitor services, published by ICMBio. Visitors who walk up Corcovado are not counted, and the statue's sanctuary publishes no official count. Concession gate counts differ from ICMBio's park totals. Ticket prices are those set in October 2023 and may have changed since. Foz do Iguaçu attraction counts are reported by each operator and compiled by the Paraná state government for 1 January to 29 December 2025; Itaipu's figure covers the Brazilian side only.

How big are Rio's Carnival and New Year's Eve?

Very big. Rio's city government expects millions at Carnival and on New Year's Eve, and Guinness World Records lists the Copacabana celebration as the largest New Year's Eve party. Summer is the city's busiest tourist season.

  • From Brazil 87.3%
  • From abroad 12.7%
Visitors to Rio de Janeiro for New Year's Eve 2025 (27 December to 2 January) by origin, in per cent. City figures. (Riotur (New Year's Eve forecast), Dec 2025)
  • The Rio city government estimated that Carnival 2026 would generate about R$5.9 billion for the city economy, with about 8 million revellers from 17 January to 22 February 2026. (Riotur (Carnival 2026 estimate), Feb 2026)
  • Rio's 2026 street carnival had 458 registered blocos, against 457 in 2025, with about 1,786 hours of parades and an estimated public of almost 7 million. The 11 largest drew about 53% of the crowd, averaging 180,000 people each. (Riotur (Carnival 2026 estimate), Feb 2026)
  • 2.6 million people greeted 2026 on Copacabana beach. (Riotur (New Year's Eve 2026), Jan 2026)
  • Guinness World Records recognised Rio's New Year's Eve as the world's largest, based on 2.5 million people on Copacabana Beach in 2025. (Riotur (Guinness record), Dec 2025)
  • The city expected more than 1 million tourists for New Year's Eve 2026, 15% more than a year earlier, and an economic impact of R$3.34 billion. For New Year's Eve 2025 it received 890,900 visitors, 12.7% of them from abroad. (Riotur (New Year's Eve forecast), Dec 2025)
  • The city forecast 5.7 million tourists in summer 2026 (21 December 2025 to 20 March 2026), 1.2 million from abroad and 4.5 million from Brazil, spending R$12.8 billion. It puts spending at about R$3,645 per foreign tourist and R$1,856 per Brazilian. (Riotur (summer 2026 forecast), Jan 2026)
  • Rio received 2.7 million tourists in winter (July to September) 2025, 83.9% Brazilian and 16.1% foreign, who spent R$6.9 billion. The city forecasts 2.8 million and R$7.4 billion for winter 2026. (Riotur (winter 2025), Jun 2026)

These are estimates by the Rio city government, published by Riotur, the city's tourism company. Carnival figures are projections made before the event, and crowd sizes are estimates, not ticketed counts. Summer and winter tourist numbers and spending come from a model by the research arm of the Rio commerce federation (IFec RJ), relayed by the city. The Guinness recognition is as reported by the city.

What other events bring tourists to Brazil?

Carnival in Salvador and São Paulo, and in 2025 the COP30 climate summit in Belém. Each state or city measures its crowds in its own way, so the figures cannot be ranked against each other.

3.5m 2025 3.8m+ 2026
View data table
Tourists in Bahia's tourist zones during Carnival, 2025 and 2026, in millions. State government estimates.
PeriodValue
20253.5m
20263.8m+
Tourists in Bahia's tourist zones during Carnival, 2025 and 2026, in millions. State government estimates. (Governo da Bahia (Carnival 2026), Feb 2026)
  • Salvador hotels averaged 95% occupancy during Carnival 2026, with peaks of 100% near the parade routes, and hotels in more than 150 inland towns averaged 85%. (Governo da Bahia (Carnival 2026), Feb 2026)
  • Bahia's state tourism department counted more than 3.8 million tourists in the state's 13 tourist zones during Carnival 2026, spending R$8.1 billion, against 3.5 million and R$7 billion in 2025. (Governo da Bahia (Carnival 2026), Feb 2026)
  • São Paulo city's Carnival 2026 drew 17.3 million people to street blocos and the Anhembi Sambadrome, moved R$4 billion in the city economy and generated 55,000 direct and indirect jobs, on the city's estimates. (Prefeitura de São Paulo (Carnival 2026), Feb 2026)
  • COP30 in Belém recorded 513,848 entries to the Blue Zone and Green Zone over 12 days, with more than 42,000 accredited participants in the Blue Zone, on 550,000 m² of official venues. (COP30 Presidency (venues and entries), Nov 2025)
  • COP30 closed on 22 November 2025 with the Belém Package approved by 195 countries. More than 900 Indigenous peoples took part in the Blue Zone. (Secom (COP30 closing), Nov 2025)

Bahia figures are the state tourism department's estimates for the whole state, not Salvador only. São Paulo figures are the city tourism observatory's estimates. Rio's Carnival figure in the section above is a pre-event projection over a longer period, so the cities are not compared. COP30 entries are gate entries over 12 days: one person entering on several days counts several times.

How busy are Brazil's hotels?

Busier and much dearer than a year earlier, on the chain-hotel association's figures. Room rates rose faster than occupancy in 2025, Rio had a strong year and Belém's rates doubled in the year it hosted COP30.

  1. 1 Fortaleza 72.9%
  2. 2 Recife 71.1%
  3. 3 Rio de Janeiro 70.6%
  4. 4 Florianópolis 69.9%
  5. 5 Salvador 68.9%
  6. 6 Manaus 64.9%
  7. 7 São Paulo 63.7%
Chain-hotel occupancy by city, 2025, in per cent. FOHB member-hotel sample. (FOHB (InFOHB December 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Chain hotels in FOHB's sample had an average daily rate of R$416.70 in 2025, up 10.5%, and revenue per available room of R$257.43, up 12.8%. The sample covered 543 hotels with 84,778 rooms. (FOHB (InFOHB December 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Rio de Janeiro city's chain hotels ran at 70.62% occupancy in 2025, up from 64.41% in 2024, with an average daily rate of R$469.22 (+16.7%) and revenue per available room of R$331.38 (+28%). (FOHB (InFOHB December 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Belém's average chain-hotel rate rose 100.2% in 2025, from R$284.48 to R$569.53, and revenue per available room 89.6%, while occupancy fell 5.3% to 62.08%. (FOHB (InFOHB December 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Porto Alegre's chain-hotel occupancy rose 34.2% in 2025, from 47.07% to 63.17%, after the floods of 2024. (FOHB (InFOHB December 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Revenue per available room rose 7.8% in real terms in 2025, mainly from room rates (+5.3% real), on a sample of 597 hotels with about 96,240 rooms in 173 cities. (HotelInvest and FOHB (Panorama 2026), 2026)

FOHB is the association of hotel chain operators and these are its own figures, from a fixed sample of member hotels. Chain hotels lean towards larger city hotels, so the figures do not describe all accommodation. InFOHB figures are in nominal reais; the HotelInvest and FOHB Panorama figures are in real terms, so the two growth rates differ and are not mixed. Percentage changes in occupancy are relative changes, not percentage points. Belém's sample is small.

Where do tourists stay in Brazil?

Brazilians mostly stay with friends or family. Foreign holiday visitors mostly use hotels and pousadas, but about a quarter rented a house in 2019. Short-term lets supplied most of the beds for COP30 in Belém.

  • Friend's or relative's home 40.7%
  • Hotel, resort or flat 18.8%
  • Pousada 5.9%
  • Holiday rental 5.2%
  • Own property 3.2%
  • Other 26.2%
Main place to stay on trips by Brazilian residents, 2024, share of trips in per cent. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • 40.7% of trips by Brazilians in 2024 used a friend's or relative's home as the main place to stay, 18.8% a hotel, resort or flat, 5.9% a pousada and 5.2% a holiday rental. (IBGE (PNAD tourism 2024), Oct 2025)
  • 59.1% of international leisure tourists stayed in a hotel, flat, pousada or resort in 2019 and 23.0% in a rented house. 82.2% of business and events travellers used hotels. (Ministério do Turismo (international demand survey 2019), Jun 2020)
  • Belém lined up 53,003 beds for COP30: 14,547 in hotels in the city and metropolitan region, 6,000 on two cruise ships, 10,004 in seasonal rentals through agencies and 22,452 on Airbnb. (COP30 Presidency (beds for COP30), Aug 2025)

Brazilian trips come from IBGE's household survey; "other" includes hostels, camping and trips with no overnight stay. Foreign visitor figures come from the tourism ministry's 2019 demand survey, the latest edition, from before the pandemic. COP30 beds are capacity lined up before the event, as the COP30 Presidency stated them, not occupancy. No official national figure for short-term lets was found.

Is Brazil safe for visitors?

Violent deaths are falling nationally, but rates differ widely between states. São Paulo and Santa Catarina have far lower rates than several northeastern states. Recorded street robberies fell sharply in 2025.

  1. 1 Bahia 36.8
  2. 2 Ceará 34.7
  3. 3 Pernambuco 33.0
  4. 4 Pará 28.4
  5. 5 Rio de Janeiro 22.6
  6. 6 Amazonas 18.5
  7. 7 Paraná 15.5
  8. 8 Distrito Federal 9.6
  9. 9 São Paulo 7.8
  10. 10 Santa Catarina 7.6
Intentional violent deaths per 100,000 people by state, 2025. Rates for the whole state, not tourist areas. (FBSP (public safety yearbook 2026), Jul 2026)

FBSP (Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública) compiles official state police and health records in its yearly public safety yearbook. Intentional violent deaths cover homicide, robbery followed by death, assault causing death and deaths from police action. Rates are per resident, not a measure of risk to tourists. Robbery and theft figures are police reports only; under-reporting is high and varies by state. The 2019 rating is visitors' opinion from the tourism ministry's survey, not crime data.

When is the best time to visit Brazil?

It depends on the region. Rio, São Paulo and the South have hot, wet summers from December to March and drier, milder winters. On the northeast coast most rain falls from about March to July, and in Manaus the drier months from July to October are the hottest.

  1. 1 Belém 3,308 mm
  2. 2 Rio (Alto da Boa Vista) 2,415 mm
  3. 3 Manaus 2,362 mm
  4. 4 Recife (Curado) 2,156 mm
  5. 5 Salvador (Ondina) 1,833 mm
  6. 6 Florianópolis 1,766 mm
  7. 7 São Paulo (Mirante) 1,658 mm
  8. 8 Fortaleza 1,584 mm
Average yearly rainfall at selected weather stations, 1991-2020 normals, in millimetres. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)
  • São Paulo (Mirante de Santana station) averages a daily high of 28.6°C in January and 22.9°C in June and July, with lows of 12.8°C in July. It gets 292.1 mm of rain in January, 32.3 mm in August and 1,658.3 mm a year. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)
  • Rio de Janeiro's Alto da Boa Vista station, in the Tijuca forest, averages a high of 30.6°C in February and 24.1°C in July, with lows of 15.1°C in July. It gets 252 mm of rain in March, 150.5 mm in August and 2,414.8 mm a year, with rain on 121 days. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)
  • Salvador (Ondina station) is wettest from April to June, with 284.9 mm, 302.2 mm and 237.6 mm, and driest in December (63.4 mm) and January (76.9 mm). Highs average 31.1°C in February and 26.6°C in July, with 2,372.8 hours of sunshine a year. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)
  • Manaus gets 320.9 mm of rain in March and 331 mm in April, but 56.1 mm in August. Its average high peaks at 34.1°C in September, and the average temperature is 27.4°C all year. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)
  • Belém, host city of COP30, gets 3,308.3 mm of rain a year, 506.3 mm of it in March, and rain on 224 days. November has 151.4 mm and 13 rain days. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)
  • Florianópolis averages a high of 29.5°C in February and 21.1°C in July, with lows of 12.9°C in July. It gets 241.3 mm of rain in January and 86.3 mm in June. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)
  • Recife's wettest month is June (390.5 mm) and Fortaleza's is April (385 mm). Fortaleza gets only 9.5 mm to 13.6 mm a month from September to November and 2,845.9 hours of sunshine a year. (INMET (climate normals 1991-2020), 1991-2020)

These are the National Institute of Meteorology's (INMET) climate normals for 1991-2020, by weather station. The only Rio de Janeiro city station in the 1991-2020 normals is Alto da Boa Vista, which sits at altitude in the Tijuca forest and is much wetter and slightly cooler than Copacabana or the city centre. Single stations describe one place, not a whole region, and recent years may differ.

Glossary

MTur
The Ministério do Turismo, Brazil's tourism ministry, which counts international arrivals, sets the national tourism plan and runs the visitor surveys.
Embratur
The Brazilian agency that promotes Brazil as a destination abroad.
Polícia Federal
Brazil's federal police, whose border records are used to count international tourist arrivals.
BCB
The Banco Central do Brasil, the central bank, which measures international travel receipts and spending in the balance of payments.
Travel receipts
Spending in Brazil by non-resident travellers, including business, study and health trips, as recorded in the balance of payments.
PNT
The Plano Nacional de Turismo 2024-2027, the national tourism plan, which sets targets for 2027.
IBGE
The Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, the national statistics office.
PNAD Contínua
IBGE's continuous household survey, whose tourism module counts trips made by Brazilian residents.
ANAC
The Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil, Brazil's civil aviation agency, which compiles airline passenger data.
ICMBio
The Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, which manages federal national parks and other conservation units and counts their visits.
Conservation unit
A federal protected area, such as a national park or an environmental protection area, managed by ICMBio.
FOHB
The Fórum de Operadores Hoteleiros do Brasil, the association of hotel chain operators, which publishes hotel performance for its members.
RevPAR
Revenue per available room: room revenue divided by all rooms available, whether sold or not.
Pousada
A small guesthouse or inn, common in Brazilian beach and country towns.
CLIA Brasil
The Brazilian branch of the Cruise Lines International Association, the cruise industry body.
FBSP
The Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, which compiles official police and health records into a yearly public safety yearbook.
INMET
The Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia, Brazil's national weather service, which publishes the climate normals.
Riotur
The Rio de Janeiro city government's tourism company, which publishes the city's event and tourism estimates.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from the Ministério do Turismo (its quarterly management report, the national tourism plan, the 2019 international demand survey and its release on an Embratur visitor survey), Embratur, the Banco Central do Brasil, IBGE, the Ministério de Portos e Aeroportos (ANAC data), ICMBio, INMET, FBSP, and city and state governments for events and attractions. Figures from GRU Airport, CLIA Brasil, FOHB and HotelInvest are labelled as their own. Each figure links to the document that carries it, with the date, and sources are labelled by report. International arrival totals are quoted only where the ministry or Embratur print them; totals added up from the open-data border files are left out. Travel receipts are the central bank's current figures after its April 2026 revision. Plan targets are labelled as targets and are not compared with outcomes. Survey spend and balance-of-payments receipts are given in separate sections and are not compared. There is no current official tourism share of GDP, so none is given. Figures that could only be found in the press, figures the sources do not agree on, and shares, sums or growth rates we would have had to calculate are left out. Climate figures are INMET 1991-2020 normals for named stations. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.