Survey by the Ministry of Justice indicates 680 thousand Venezuelans and a 54% increase in formal insertion in 2 years
Brazil is home to just over 2 million international immigrants, including residents, temporary workers, refugees and those seeking recognition of refugee status, from 200 different nationalities, present in all units of the federation.
The data in the 12th Annual Report of (International Migration Observatory) “Migration Policy in Brazil: evidence for flow management and sectoral policies”. The document was presented on Thursday (April 30, 2026) by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and brings several recommendations for the effective integration of these audiences into Brazilian society.
Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Angolans are the highlighted groups. It is estimated that 680 thousand Venezuelans will reside in Brazil at the beginning of 2026, with a greater number of women and children (0 to 14 years old) participating.
The survey aims to support the implementation of the new published at the end of 2025, which replaced the 2017 Migration Law.
The analyzes included aspects regarding the evolution of the intensity of migratory flows, points of entry into Brazil, composition by sex and age, spatial distribution in the Federation units and the strategy for regularizing these groups in the country.
The results also analyzed the situation of migrants, refugees and stateless people under the following axes: work, education, social protection and local governance.
WELCOME BRAZILIAN POLICY
The current representative of the (Agência da United Nations Refugee Organization) not Brazil, states that updated public data helps to face global and regional challenges on this topic.
“I want to highlight the commitment [do Brasil] to continually strengthen its public database as a way of ensuring that qualified, transparent information about refugees or forcibly displaced and stateless people is maintained and improved. Reliable data helps us respond to the contemporary challenge of human mobility”declared Torzilli.
The representative says that the new national policy is unique in the world and that Brazil has consistently affirmed its commitment to the governance of the social protection system based on human rights, international cooperation and shared responsibilities.
The presentation of this report precedes the participation of the Brazilian delegation in the meeting scheduled by the United Nations, in New York (USA), next week, to debate the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
The director of the Department of Migrations from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, stated that the federal government recently formulated the National Plan for Refuge Immigration and Statelessness, established in the new national policy: “The federal government reaffirms its commitment to this agenda and Brazil’s vocation as a welcoming country. It also confirms the perspective of inclusion in government policies.”
WORK AND INCOME
The 12th Annual OBMigra Report shows that the flow of migrant workers into the formal labor market in Brazil increased by 54% from 2023 to 2025. The number of immigrant workers with a formal contract exceeded 414.96 thousand employment contracts in 2025.
In this universe, 43% are concentrated in industrial production, especially in the animal slaughter sector in the South region.
In comparison with requests for residence to work in Brazil, from 2022 to 2024, the increase was 68%, indicating more job opportunities in the country.
“This is due to the greater demand for migrant labor in Brazil, as the country is currently experiencing full employment”stated the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
Regarding the main nationalities, in 2025, the Brazilian formal labor market had more than 201 thousand Venezuelan workers. Haitians came next, with growth of 20.4% from 2023 to 2025, with a total of 51,200 Haitians formally hired last year. Cubans appear in 3rd position, with 30,700 formal workers.
The organization states that many immigrants with higher education suffer from status inconsistency and occupy positions with low qualifications and income and, consequently, lower income.
Information from the updated panorama of international migration also shows that the majority of migrant domestic workers are informal, that is, without a formal contract. In 2024, 78.8% of domestic workers were unregistered (1,184), while only 21.2% had a formal contract (318).
The study used the database of from the Ministry of Labor and Employment and data from of the Ministry of Justice.
SOCIAL PROTECTION
The document notes the significant increase in migrants registered in the federal government’s Single Registry for Social Programs, from 2023 to 2024. The number of registered migrants grew from 562,687 to 650,683.
In the sociodemographic profile of the registered migrant population, the predominance is female (55.6%, in 2024).
Regarding age, data from CadÚnico indicate a sharper increase in the number of migrant children and adolescents aged 0 to 17, which increased from 159,011 in 2023 to 188,531 in 2024 – an increase of 18.6%.
The report indicates greater access to social programs, such as . In 2023, of the total 562,687 migrants registered in the 302,497 were Bolsa Família beneficiaries, while 260,190 did not receive the benefit.
The document suggests reduce the time between registration and access to benefits, by increasing transparency and communication about criteria and stages, in addition to improving mechanisms for monitoring and managing queues for access to social programs.
LOCATION
CadÚnico data shows a strong concentration of the migrant population registered in a small set of Federation units, with emphasis on large economic centers and strategic states from a migration point of view.
Three states concentrate a significant portion of the total number of migrants registered in the country. In 2024, São Paulo remained the UF with the highest number of registered migrants, totaling 140,033 registrations, followed by Paraná (102,046) and Roraima (86,845).
The states of Santa Catarina (71,055) and Rio Grande do Sul (61,386) also stood out as centers of economic attraction and permanence for the migrant population.
EDUCATION
The study shows consistent growth in enrollment of immigrant students in basic education from 2010 to 2024.
During the period, the number of people enrolled in the 3 stages of basic education, added to the number of immigrants in secondary-level technical professional education and EJA (Youth and Adult Education), increased from 41,916 to 224,924 students, resulting in an increase of 437%.
Since 2010, the number of migrants in higher education institutions has grown by 77.5%. It jumped from 16,696 in 2010 to 29,635 in 2023.
This text was originally by Agência Brasil, on April 30, 2026. The content is free for republication, citing the source, and was adapted to the standard of Poder360.
