The indicator that measures the quality of sanitation of Brazilian cities recorded the lowest level since 2020, according to the Competitiveness ranking of municipalities 2025published by CLP (Public Leadership Center) This Wednesday (27).
The sanitation rate is one of the 13 that make up the study, which points out which municipalities have the best management and public policies.
In an interview with CNNCLP CEO, Tadeu Barros, stated that municipalities need to connect the “Red Sign” to the question.
“From the point of view of sanitation, unfortunately, in the historical average of the municipalities, we see a fall. So there is a red signal for the municipalities to be aware, because we have goals for universalization of sanitation and they are far from being achieved,” he said.
Barros assessed that, although the legal framework of sanitation has brought advances, especially in the field of concessions, many of the necessary infrastructures remain in poor condition.
“He (indicator) gets worse because I have a huge liability, from leaks, old pipelines that have not been resolved, and places where, unfortunately, there are still situations that resemble the Middle Ages, without treated water and channeled sewage,” he said.
According to him, the way would be to revitalize the existing infrastructure and invest in new facilities.
“The challenge in the country is still very large. Time goes by and the installed infrastructure, which is already old, gets worse. So we need to bring new infrastructure and ensure the maintenance of the old one,” he concluded.
According to the ranking, Leme (SP), Catanduva (SP), Presidente Prudente (SP), Balneário Camboriú (SC) and Assis (SP) are the cities with the best sanitation levels in the country.
Environment
The indicator that measures the advance in environmental issues continued in the opposite direction to the sanitation and recorded the highest average in the history of the ranking.
This pillar is composed of five indicators: greenhouse gas emissions, natural forest coverage, illegal deforestation, illegal deforestation speed and recovered areas.
The director of the PLC attributes the improvement to a growing concern of public administrations with the environmental agenda, as well as the impact of COP30, which will be held in November in Belém (PA).
O ranking
The competitiveness ranking of municipalities considers cities with more than 80 thousand inhabitants. In 2025, 418 municipalities were evaluated, concentrating 60.28% of the Brazilian population.
The survey, in its sixth edition, is based on 13 pillars considered “fundamental” to promote competitiveness and improve public management.
The pillars are: fiscal sustainability, public machine functioning, access to health, health quality, access to education, quality of education, safety, sanitation, environment, economic insertion, innovation and economic dynamism, human capital and telecommunications.
See the 10 most competitive cities:
- Florianópolis (SC)
- Vitória (s)
- Sao Paulo (SP)
- Porto Alegre (RS)
- Curitiba (PR)
- Campinas (SP)
- Maringá (PR)
- São Caetano do Sul (SP)
- Barueri (SP)
- Votuporanga (SP)
See the 10 less competitive:
- Ititit (PA)
- My (pa)
- BRIEF (PA)
- Japeri (RJ)
- Belford Roxo (RJ)
- Bayeux (PB)
- Cametá (PA)
- PINHEIRO (MA)
- Caxias (MA)
- Coda (today)
