In 2025, the Brazilian corporate environment sets a milestone in measuring racial equality. The Index of Corporate Racial Equality (IERE), compiled by the Business Initiative for Racial Equity, has reached a record high 84 participating companiesThat is almost double the largest previous editions (48 organizations in 2022 and 2023).
Complete data and methodological information can be found on the official website of the Business Initiative for Racial Equity, which provides reports and publications on this topic.
Progress in sectoral participation and representation
for the first time, 40 of the 84 participating companies were not signatories initiative, which significantly expanded the sample analyzed and allowed us to observe more diverse patterns of maturation in ethnic diversity.
The organizations reported collectively R$1.13 trillion in annual revenue – Approx equivalent 10% of Brazilian GDP -And 9.5 million employees.
The sectors with the greatest representation were:
- Manufacturing industry (14)
- Trade, transportation, warehousing and mail (9)
- Information and communication (8)
- Human health and social services (5)
- Agriculture, livestock and food production (5)
According to the International Energy Research Institute’s technical coordination, smaller companies performed, on average, worse than larger companies, a trend attributed to structural challenges and less operational capacity to implement diversity and governance policies.
Representation in senior leadership represents unprecedented progress
Although the organizations entered at an early stage, lowering the overall average, IERE 2025 recorded a significant improvement in indicators of the presence of blacks in strategic locations.
The most important results were: – Black women in senior leadership: from 2% to 2.7%; – Black men in senior leadership: from 3% to 5.5%.
According to the technical team, boards of directors and senior management executive positions remain the most challenging areas, but have shown a consistent trend of development since the beginning of the historical series.
Overall classification of the companies evaluated
The 2025 edition presented a list of organizations that, according to the index methodology, achieved the highest results in all the axes that were evaluated (diagnosis, governance, internal practices, and policies for promoting justice).
The full classification is available on the official portal of the business initiative.
- any
- Logas Renner SA
- Carrefour Brazil Group
- Bradesco
- Santander
Data were collected based on information provided directly by participating companies.
The full classification is available on the official portal of the business initiative.
Non-private companies show steady development
Regarding non-private institutions, the 2025 edition recorded relevant developments. According to the official report, the ranking was as follows:
- Bank of Brazil
- He predicts
- Petrobras
For those responsible for the methodology, the performance highlights the increasing involvement of public institutions and the mixed economy in adopting structured governance mechanisms, enumeration and promoting justice.
Highlights of the edition and the methodology applied
IERE uses information provided by companies and is validated through quantitative and qualitative criteria defined in partnership with GO Associados. Among the topics evaluated were:
- Census
- consciousness
- employment
- an exercise
- It rises
- Advertising and sharing
Methodological descriptions, benchmarks, and historical series are publicly available on the Business Initiative for Racial Equality institutional portal.
To learn about the Business Census, Awareness, Recruitment, Training, Onboarding, Advertising and Participation theme, just click here
The 2025 Corporate Racial Equality Index was officially launched during the International Forum on Corporate Racial Equality, held on November 17-18, at the FIESP headquarters, in São Paulo. The event brought together public authorities, executives and experts to discuss trends and challenges of the diversity, equality and governance agenda in the Brazilian labor market.
About the Business for Racial Equity Initiative
The initiative brings together more than 100 large companies, more than 3 million workers and more than R$1.3 trillion in total revenue. She has worked for 10 years to develop metrics, programmes, training, standards and advocacy actions that drive systemic transformations in the labor market.