Brazil Social Progress Index 2025 - Executive Summary

Introduction

The Social Progress Index (SPI) is a tool that measures the social and environmental performance of territories at all geographical levels (countries, states, municipalities and even communities). The SPI is an index developed by the international non-profit Social Progress Imperative, which has been coordinating the annual publication of the index for 170 countries since 2014. There are also initiatives to develop the index on a subnational scale in the European Union and in different countries such as Mexico, India, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. These initiatives were inspired by the Amazon SPI, pioneered by the Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (Imazon) in 2014. In 2024, again under the leadership of Imazon, SPI Brazil became the largest initiative ever carried out in the world to generate the index on a sub-national scale.

SPI Brazil 2025 is the second report released (the first was in 2024) covering all 5,570 Brazilian municipalities[1], its 26 states and the Federal District. The SPI Brazil is updated annually so that it is possible to compare the socioenvironmental performance of municipalities over time. Measuring the social situation of municipalities on an annual basis is essential to capture changes and trends and contribute to improving public policies and local public management.

The SPI has emerged to complement economic development measures, recognizing that economic growth alone, without social progress, often leads to environmental degradation, increased inequality and social conflicts. The SPI directly measures outcomes and has been used for strategic planning, evaluating programs and improving public policies. The index also serves as a compass to guide private social investments in municipalities.

The SPI Brazil 2025 is made up of 57 social and environmental indicators from public sources. These indicators have been aggregated into a general index with a score from 0 to 100. In turn, this general index is divided into indexes for three dimensions of social progress (Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity), and 12 components within the dimensions (Nutrition & Medical Care, Water & Sanitation, Housing, Safety, Basic Education, Information & Communications, Health, Environmental Quality, Rights & Voice, Freedoms & Choice, Inclusive Society and Advanced Education).

SPI Brazil reflects the diversity of a country of continental dimensions, revealing its socioenvironmental situation on a municipal scale. Brazil, the 5th largest country in the world, is organized into a federation made up of 26 states, the Federal District and 5,570 municipalities. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) 2024 Population Estimates (EstimaPop)[2], the Brazilian population totals approximately 212.6 million inhabitants. Municipalities represent Brazil’s smallest administrative units, which have political, administrative and financial autonomy. The municipal sphere has important competencies such as basic sanitation, road infrastructure (including paving, signage, and maintenance), creation and conservation of squares and arborization, urban transportation and public lighting. The municipality also shares education, health and environmental services with other federal spheres (states and the Union).