South America
To which language should you translate to localize in Brazil ?
What we know from our community
Brazil is a country of continental dimensions and as such home for a variety of ethnic groups, customs, and dialects.
Portuguese is its official language, even though there are several Amerindian languages still spoken by its indigenous population. Brazil is by far the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking nation and the only one in the Americas.
The Portuguese spoken in Brazil varies from one region to another and it is also notably different from the one spoken in Portugal – the accent, meaning of certain words and expressions, verbal conjugation, use of pronouns, etc. It can actually be challenging for a Brazilian person to understand someone from Portugal! The differences in written language are fewer but still quite evident. Therefore, if you want your text or audio to come across nicely and sound native in Brazil, you must translate it into the Brazilian variant of the Portuguese language.
Then, first of all, take a look at what the 100 top websites do
Of the top 100 website (Global by design ranking):
- 92/100 translate into Brazilian Portuguese
- 4/100 translate into Portuguese
- 9/100 do not translate into Brazilian Portuguese
Now, if you need others information about that country to make your decision, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data
Introduction
Language
Official language
Portuguese (97.9%)
T-index
2%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
Other languages
Indigenous (1.9%) : Apalaí, Arára, Bororo, Canela, Carajá, Carib, Guarani, Kaingang, Nadëb, Nheengatu, Pirahã, Terena, Tucano, Tupiniquim, Ye’kuana
English
Low proficiency (EF) – 60 of 112 countries/regions in the world- 12/20 position in Latin America.
Demography
Capital: Brasilia
Currency: Brazilian real
Population: 213,99 m
Population density: 26/km2
Economy
GDP: 1,608,981.22 Trillion USD (2020)
GDP per capita: 7,518.8 USD (2020)
Exports: $214 billion (2020)
Statistics
Internet users: 77% penetration, 165.3 million
Unemployment rate: 13.3% (2021)
Urbanisation: 86.57% (2020)
Literacy: 93% (2018)
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numbering system with the comma as decimal separator
Date format: dd – mm – yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0055
Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal
Facts and data
Economy
Imports
$160 billion (2020). Refined Petroleum ($7.91B), Vehicle Parts ($5.42B), Pesticides ($3.73B), Integrated Circuits ($3.66B), and Packaged Medicaments ($3.2B), importing mostly from China ($36.4B), United States ($29.3B), Germany ($9.71B), Argentina ($7.67B), and South Korea ($4.59B).
Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)
• 48% have an account with a financial institution
• 24% have a credit card
• 2.4% have a mobile money account
• 19% make online purchases
Ease of doing business
Medium, ease of conducting business is rated 59.1 out of 100, ranked 17th out of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries and 124th worldwide out of 190 countries (2019, World Bank)
Exports
$214 billion (2020). Soybeans ($28.6B), Iron Ore ($26.5B), Crude Petroleum ($19.8B), Raw Sugar ($8.95B), and Frozen Bovine Meat ($6.69B), exporting mostly to China ($67.9B), United States ($21.9B), Argentina ($8.57B), Netherlands ($6.7B), and Canada ($4.39B).
Main local online stores
Mercado Livre, Americanas.com, Amazon Brazil, Magazine Luiza, Casas Bahia, Submarino, Netshoes, Extra.com.br, Dafiti, Shoptime
Economic freedom
‘Mostly unfree’ (rated 53.3 out of 100) 26th amongst 32 countries in Latin America 133 worldwide out of 186 countries (2019, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)
Global Innovation Index
Ranked 4th out of 18 Latin America and the
Caribbean countries, 57th out of 132 worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal
Service import (2018)
Source: OEC
Service Export (2018)
Source: OEC
Most complex products by PCI
Product Complexity Index measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters
Source: OEC
Most specialized products by RCA
Specialisation is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage, an index that takes the ratio between Brazil observed and expected exports in each product
Source: OEC
Export opportunities by Relatedness
Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product, the barchart show only products that Brazil is not specialized in
Source: OEC
Preferred e-commerce payment methods
Source: J.P. Morgan 2019 Payment Trends
Preferred e-commerce platform in $ billions
Source: J.P. Morgan 2019 Payment Trends
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language
Portuguese
Information channels
Television dominates South America’s biggest media market. There are hundreds of TV networks and thousands of radio stations. Brazilian-made dramas and soaps – known as novelas – are shown around the world. Game shows and reality TV attract huge audiences. Media ownership is highly concentrated. Conglomerates such as Globo, the leading broadcaster, dominate the market and run TV and radio outlets, newspapers and pay TV. Freedom House states that many private media organisations are owned by individuals with political connections, who use the outlets to promote their own interests. The constitution guarantees a free press and there is vigorous media debate about politics and social issues. But Reporters Without Borders says Brazil is one of Latin America’s most violent countries for journalists with a “climate of impunity fuelled by ubiquitous corruption”. Politicians often use restrictive laws to silence journalists or media outlets, says the Committee to Protect Journalists. There is a “digital divide” between regions and between urban and rural areas, says Freedom House. Brazilians are among the world’s top users of social media. Facebook is the leading social platform and WhatsApp is the top communication application. There are no indications of widespread blocking online, but internet freedom is constrained by attacks on bloggers, defamation laws and restrictions on election-related content, says Freedom House.
The press
O Dia – Rio de Janeiro daily
O Correio Brazilense – influential daily
O Globo – Globo-owned Rio de Janeiro daily
Jornal do Brasil – Rio de Janeiro daily
Folha de Sao Paulo – daily
O Estado de Sao Paulo – daily
Television
TV Band – commercial network operated by Grupo Bandeirantes
Rede Globo – market leader, operated by Globo
Sistema Brasileiro de Televisao (SBT) – major commercial network
TV Record – major commercial network
TV Brasil – operated by state-run EBC
Rede TV – commercial network
TV Cultura – public, educational and cultural
Radio
Radio Nacional – FM and medium wave (AM) networks operated by state-run EBC
Globo Radio – commercial networks operated by
Radio Bandeirantes – network operated by Grupo Bandeirantes
News agency
Agencia Brasil – state-owned
Agencia Estado – private, Sao Paulo-based
Agencia Globo – private
UOL – popular portal
G1 – news website, operated by Globo
Media data source: BBC
Internet Data
Internet users
77% penetration, 165.3 million
Share of web traffic by device
49.55% mobile phones, 49.61% computers (laptops and desktops), 0.78% tablet devices, others 0.06%
Median speed of mobile Internet connection
22.60 Mbps
Median speed of fixed Internet connection
83.25 Mbps
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 104.8%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 96.5%
Most popular web search engines
Google (97.41%), Bing (1.28%), Yahoo (1.11%), DuckduckGo (0.11%), Ecosia (0.04%), Yandex Ru (0.02%)
Most used social media
Facebook (46.89%), Instagram (21.4%), Twitter (12.57), Pinterest (12.36%),YouTube (6.14%), Tumbrl (0.44%)
Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter
Proportion of households with Internet Access (2017)
Percentage of the total number of households
| YES | NO | ||
| TOTAL | 61 | 39 | |
| AREA | |||
| URBAN | 65 | 35 | |
| RURAL | 34 | 66 | |
| REGION | |||
| SOUTHEAST | 69 | 31 | |
| NORTHEAST | 49 | 51 | |
| SOUTH | 60 | 40 | |
| NORTH | 48 | 52 | |
| CENTER WEST | 68 | 32 | |
| SOCIAL CLASS | |||
| A | 99 | 1 | |
| B | 93 | 7 | |
| C | 69 | 31 | |
| DE | 30 | 70 |
Individuals who have never access the Internet by main reason for never having using it
| Lack of interest | Lack of computer skills | Too expensive | To avoid contact with dangerous content | Lack of need | No place to use it | Concerns with security or privacy | Others/ does not know/did not answer | |
| TOTAL | 8 | 29 | 26 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
| AREA | 4 | |||||||
| URBAN | 6 | 32 | 26 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| RURAL | 14 | 20 | 27 | 7 | 19 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| SOCIAL CLASS | ||||||||
| A | 31 | 22 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| B | 3 | 39 | 37 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| C | 4 | 37 | 28 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
| DE | 11 | 23 | 23 | 5 | 22 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
| SEX | ||||||||
| MALE | 9 | 31 | 27 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| FEMALE | 7 | 27 | 25 | 5 | 18 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| AGE GROUP | ||||||||
| 10 to 15 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 19 | 27 | 2 | 7 | 6 |
| 16 to 24 | 5 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 33 | 4 | 12 | 11 |
| 25 to 34 | 8 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 26 | 4 | 29 | 2 |
| 35 to 44 | 20 | 21 | 24 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| 45 to 59 | 6 | 30 | 24 | 2 | 21 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
| 60+ | 6 | 34 | 31 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
Social statistics
Life expectancy
75.96 yrs (2020)
Graduates (tertiary education)
About 18% of adults (25-64 year olds) in Brazil have attained tertiary education. (2019)
Average age of the population
33.5yrs (2020)
Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF
The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com
Languages research
Languages of Brazil
Legend
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1- Arawá
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2- Arikèm
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3- Aruák
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4- Borôro
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5- Chiquito
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6- Guaikuru
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7- Guató
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8- Iranxe
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9- Jê
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10- Juruna
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11- Karajá
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12- Karib
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13- Katukina
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14- Krenák
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15- Makú
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16- Mawé
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17- Maxakali
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18- Mondé
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19- Mundurukú
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20- Mura
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21- Nambikwara
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22- Ofayé
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23- Puroborá
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24- Ramarama
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25- Rikbaktsá
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26- Tikúna
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27- Tukano
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28- Tupari
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29- Tupi-Guarani
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30- Txapakúra
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31- Yanomami
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32- Yatê
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33- Aikaná e Koazá
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34- Aikaná e Nambikwára
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35- Arúak e Jê
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36- Arúak e Pano
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37- Arúak e Tupi-Guarani
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38- Jê e Krenák
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39 Jê e Tupi-Guarani
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40- Kanoê e Tupari
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41- Katukina e Pano
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42- Arúak, Crioulo, Francês e Karib
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43- Arúak, Makú, Tukano, Tupi-Guarani
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44- Aikaná, Jabuti, Kanoê, Mondé e Tupari
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45- Arúak, Aweti, Jê, Jurana, Karib, Tupi-Gurani e Trumái
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46- Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese: most prominent accent variations
Legend
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Voce used as “You”
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Tu used as “You” (correct conjugation)
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Tu used as “You” (”incorrect” conjugation)
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American “R” after vowels (caipira accent)
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Portuguese “S” (”sh”)
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
Photo credit: Gabriel Ramos, Unsplash