Population: 169 806 557 (July 1998 est.)
note: Brazil took a census in August 1996 which showed a total of 157 079 573; this figure is about 5% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau which is close to the implied underenumeration of 4.6% for 1991; since the full results of the census have not been released for analysis the numbers shown for Brazil do not take into consideration the results of this 1996 census

Age structure:
0-14 years: 30% (male 26 090 859; female 25 132 122)
15-64 years: 65% (male 54 199 642; female 55 769 122)
65 years and over: 5% (male 3 499 272; female 5 115 540) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.24% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 20.92 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 8.53 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.03 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 36.96 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.36 years
male: 59.39 years
female: 69.59 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.33 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Brazilian(s)
adjective: Brazilian

Ethnic groups: white (includes Portuguese German Italian Spanish Polish) 55% mixed white and black 38% black 6% other (includes Japanese Arab Amerindian) 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic (nominal) 70%

Languages: Portuguese (official) Spanish English French

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.3%
male: 83.3%
female: 83.2% (1995 est.)