According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Brazil reached 213.4 million inhabitants in 2025; Among them, nearly 54 million people benefit from Bolsa Família, through the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and the Fight against Hunger (MDS), including 9.12 million children from zero to six years old, 12.3 million children and adolescents from seven to 16 years old, 2.6 million adolescents from sixteen to eighteen years old and 29.98 million people from over 18, according to the federal government.
According to the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), 51.7 million children and adolescents under the age of 18 were part of the national population in 2022, so that, if we excluded these and the 29.98 million Bolsa Família beneficiaries over 18, there would remain an economically active population of 131.72 million.
The Federal Government also indicates that Social Security pays more than 40.4 million benefits, taking into account the General Social Security Regime and assistance benefits, thus reducing Brazil’s economically active population to 91.32 million inhabitants. Among them, 48.25 million have active formal employment in the country, according to the federal government, so that 43.07 million Brazilians are unemployed.
According to Ipea, there are 12.4 million public employees in Brazil, which leaves the private sector with a contingent of 30.67 million people with an active formal employment relationship, who pay taxes and do not represent recurring expenses for the State.
The number of businesses opened in Brazil increased, reaching 1,407,010 new CNPJs in March 2025, with emphasis on individual microentrepreneurs (MEI), which correspond to 78% of the total. Brazil became the 6th country with the most established entrepreneurs; There are 47 million people running a business, formal or informal.
Márcio França, Minister of Entrepreneurship, Microenterprises and Small Businesses, said: “The National Micro and Small Business Development Policy is an important step to strengthen those that generate the most jobs and income in Brazil: small businesses. We apply this policy in every corner of the country, with a focus on productivity, innovation and economic inclusion.
Commenting on a survey carried out by the Union of Micro and Small Industries of the State of São Paulo (Simpi-SP) in collaboration with Datafolha, Joseph Couri recognizes that critical moments in the economy encourage entrepreneurship out of necessity, when he says: “What we can see is that many people opened their own businesses because they had no other choice.
The latest portrait of entrepreneurship in Brazil, carried out by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), shows that Brazil is one of the economies with the greatest entrepreneurial intention in the world, although it faces challenges in terms of public policies, financial support and access to innovation.
Currently, the level of default among natural and legal persons is high, according to Serasa, while among consumers the number of defaulters reaches 78.8 million, with a debt volume reaching 494.1 billion reais. Among micro and small businesses, 7.69 million are in default, recording a new all-time high.
Unprecedented research carried out by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) shows that, for 70% of industrial entrepreneurs, the tax pressure is the main responsible for the Brazilian cost, followed by the difficulty of “recruiting a qualified workforce”, with 62%; then, “finance the business”, 27%; “legal and regulatory security”, 24%; and “fair competitiveness”, 22%.
For Ricardo Vivacqua, founding partner of Vivacqua Advogados, “if the business world considers the tax pressure as what has the greatest impact on the formation of costs in Brazil and currently the sector that employs the most is that of services, the news is not good for anyone, because, even with many uncertainties, the tax reform shows signs of a significant increase in tax costs, especially for service providers.”
The lawyer explains: “Currently, service providers bear a tax cost of 8.65% on income, if we consider the rates of 0.65% for PIS, 3% for COFINS and the maximum rate of 5% for ISS. Doing a basic calculation, considering the lowest possible reference rate of 26.5% for IBS and CBS, without taking into account any credits, there will be a tax increase of 206.35%; A reduction of 30% will bear an increase of 114.45% and service providers entitled to a reduction of 60% will bear an increase of 22.54% in taxation.
And Ricardo continues: “We cannot forget that the split payment, provided for in the tax reform, will have a negative impact on the cash flow of companies, since the tax amounts will no longer circulate in the cash flow of companies. This scenario reduces the room for maneuver of companies which, to balance their accounts, will have to increase their prices or reduce their costs.”
And he concludes: “Reducing costs obviously implies reducing the number of employees, because labor is the main input of service providers, which impacts the volume of labor demand and increases the cost of the state with social subsidies. we will experience times of reduced economic growth, consumer power, business competitiveness and investment discouragement.
About The Author
