FGV research shows that 230,000 vacancies were created in 2024 with an average investment of R$12,300 per vacancy
A (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) presented, on Tuesday (13 January 2026), a study that points to a return of R$7.59 for every R$1 invested through . The research, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, analyzed the economic impact of cultural projects financed by the incentive mechanism.
The survey showed that the number of initiatives supported by the Rouanet Law increased from 2,600 to more than 14,000 per year between 2022 and 2024. In 2024, approximately 230,000 jobs were created with support from the program, with an average investment of R$12,300 per vacancy.
The Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes, explained the motivation for carrying out the study during the presentation of the results. “On the one hand, there are those who try to delegitimize the cultural sector and there is still a portion of society that is unaware of its role. There was a lack of robust and updated data, and that is exactly why we commissioned this research”he stated.
Since its creation in 1993, the Rouanet Law has moved more than R$60 billion in unadjusted values. In 2024, 4,939 projects were executed, with a predominance of business proposals, which represented 86.7% of the total, totaling 3,154 proponents.
Projects financed by the mechanism in 2024 generated 567,000 payments distributed among 1,800 different types of suppliers and services. Analysis of the amounts raised indicates that 76.72% of the projects obtained up to R$1 million, while 21.70% raised up to R$10 million.
A relevant fact from the study is that 96.9% of payments via the Rouanet Law are less than R$25,000, which contributes to an income distribution effect in the cultural sector.
The regional distribution of the R$25.7 billion moved by the mechanism in 2024 shows that the Southeast concentrated the majority of the resources, capturing R$18 billion. The South received R$4.5 billion, followed by the Northeast with R$1.92 billion. The Central-West and North regions raised approximately R$400 million and R$360 million, respectively.
The projects managed to raise more than R$500 million from other sources and around R$300 million in non-financial support in the same period, in addition to resources coming directly from the Rouanet Law.
The average project analysis time reduced from more than 100 days in 2022 to 35 days in 2025, demonstrating greater administrative efficiency of the program.
In the comparison between 2018 and 2024, the Northeast Region showed growth of more than 400% in the number of projects. In 2018, the Northeast had 337 projects, a number that increased to 1,778 in 2024. The North Region had a similar expansion, going from 125 to 635 projects in the same period.
The Central-West registered growth of 245.4%, going from 240 to 829 projects, while the South grew 165.1%, going from 1,268 to 3,362 projects. The Southeast, even with the lowest percentage growth among the regions, only doubling its number of projects, was the region with the greatest increase in absolute numbers, going from 3,414 in 2018 to 7,617 in 2024.
The Ministry of Culture projects that the results of the promotion actions in the North Region will already be noticed in 2026, while in the Central-West region the effects should be noticed in 2027.
Luiz Gustavo Barbosa, executive manager at FGV, explained the methodology used in the research. “We had to understand the different types of impacts. Direct, indirect, which involve the entire related economic chain and the impact of jobs generated. The resource should not be thought of just once, but in waves of related expenses”he stated.
The Secretary of Cultural Promotion of the Ministry of Culture, Henilton Menezes, highlighted the efforts to decentralize resources. “Our effort is aimed at medium-sized companies, which are based in these territories, in their own territories”he declared.
