Distillers Brazil
A one-page guide to Brazil for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Brasilia
- Official languages
- Portuguese
- Currency
- Real (BRL)
- Time zone
- UTC-3 in the east; four zones from UTC-5 to UTC-2
- Area
- 8,510,420 km²
People
- Population
- 212.8 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.4% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 88.2%
- Aged under 15
- 19.4%
- Aged 65 and over
- 11.5%
- Life expectancy
- 76.0 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$2.28 trillion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$10,713 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 2.2857464902475% (2025)
- Inflation
- 5.01675279604836% (2025)
Climate
Mostly tropical: equatorial in the north (about 25 C, little dry season), savanna with seasonal rain in the centre, semi-arid interior northeast (under 800 mm rain, droughts), subtropical south with cool winters and occasional frost.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18 (selling, serving or supplying to under-18s is a criminal offence)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 10.1 litres of pure alcohol (2022)
- What people drink
- Beer 62%, wine 4%, spirits 34% (2022)
- Traditional drinks
- Cachaca (sugarcane spirit; caipirinha base), Beer (mainly pilsner)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia: Brazil (basics, climate, ports); Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; World Bank Open Data (population, GDP, growth, inflation, area); WHO Global Health Observatory: total alcohol per capita; UN Comtrade (HS 2208 trade); Wikipedia: Cachaca; Wikipedia: Cachaca 51; Wikipedia: Ambev. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.