Sao Paulo, Brazil Population 2024

Sao Paulo's 2024 population is now estimated at 22,806,700In 1950, the population of Sao Paulo was 2,334,040Sao Paulo has grown by 187,000 in the last year, which represents a 0.83% annual change.These population estimates and projections come from the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects. These estimates represent the Urban agglomeration of Sao Paulo, which typically includes Sao Paulo's population in addition to adjacent suburban areas.

São Paulo refers to both a state and city in Brazil, but this article will only cover the scope of the city itself. As of 2016, it had an urban population of 11,967,825.

São Paulo is the largest city of Brazil and the largest city proper in the Americas and the southern hemisphere. It's also one of the top 10 largest metropolitan areas in the world. São Paulo is a global city with a strong influence in the arts, entertainment, finance and commerce, and the city hosts the largest gay pride parade in the world. Known colloquially as Sampa or Cidade da Garoa (city of drizzle), the municipality had a 2011 population of 11.31 million.

The 2018 population of São Paulo is estimated at over 12 million residents.

At the 2010 IBGE Census, São Paulo was home to 10,659,386 people, a figure that is estimated to have grown to 11.9 million in 2016. The density in the city proper is 7,216.3 people per square kilometer (18,690 per square mile), but the metropolitan region is home to over 21 million people, with a much lower density of 2,469 people per square kilometer.

Greater São Paulo actually has many definitions, but the legal definition of Região Metropolitana de São Paulo has 39 municipalities with a 2016 estimated population of 21 million people. This definition includes 38 smaller cities around São Paulo. Because the city has such a huge urban sprawl, there is another definition for its metropolitan area: Complexo Metropolitano Expandido, which is the same as a Combined Statistical Area in the United States. By this definition, greater São Paulo is the third largest city in the world with more than 27 million residents.

Historical Immigration into São Paulo

São Paulo residents, known as Paulistanos, are some of the most ethnically diverse in the country. At the end of slave trafficking in Brazil in 1850, the city replaced African labor with voluntary immigrants to work its coffee plantations. This brought in a wave of German, Portuguese and Swiss immigrants, followed by additional waves of Portuguese and Italian immigrants from the mid-19th century through the beginning of the 20th century.

This means the state of São Paulo has one of the largest immigrant communities in Brazil. When slavery was abolished in 1888, the city received huge swells of European immigrants, and by 1897, Italians accounted for more than 50% of São Paulo's population. From 1908 to 1941, a large number of Japanese immigrants arrived, while Koreans and Chinese moved to the region in the 1960's. In present day, São Paulo is seeing a huge wave of migration from Bolivia.

In 1920, the Governor of São Paulo even noted the city's huge immigrant population by saying, "If the owner of each house in São Paulo display the flag of the country of origin on the roof, from above São Paulo would look like an Italian city."

São Paulo Demographics

São Paulo is still a city of immigrants today, and a study by the University of São Paulo shows the diversity. 81% of students said they were descendants of foreign immigrants, with the most common ancestry groups being: Italian (30.5%), Portuguese (23%), Spanish (14%), Japanese (8%), German (5.6%), African (2.8%), Arab (2.4%) and Jewish (1.2%).

In the metropolitan area, there are:

  • 6 million of Italian descent
  • 3 million of Portuguese descent
  • 1.7 mllion of African descent
  • 1 million of Arab descent
  • 665,000 of Japanese descent
  • 400,000 of German descent
  • 250,000 of French descent
  • 150,000 of Greek descent
  • 120,000 of Chinese descent
  • 120,000 to 300,000 Bolivian immigrants
  • 50,000 of Korean descent and
  • 40,000 Jews

The ethnic breakdown of São Paulo according to the 2010 Census was 65.6% white, 26.5% brown or mixed people, 5.5% black, 2.2% Asian and 0.2% Amerindian.

São Paulo Population Growth

From 1950 to 1975, São Paulo was one of the fastest growing urban areas on earth. From 1980 to 2000, it also ranked 4th in population among the urban areas of the world, but it has since been displaced from this list by the unprecedented growth in areas like Delhi. The state of São Paulo has more than 44 million residents in 2016,) which is more than the US state of California in an area with just 2/3 the land.

São Paulo's central city continues to grow, and in the last decade, it has grown by over one million. 57% of its urban area population still lives in the central city, but growth in the suburbs is picking up. While the speed at which the central city grew began to slow in the 1980s, the suburban growth has climbed steadily since the 1960s with no sign of slowing.

By 2030, the United Nations projects São Paulo will have a population of over 23 million people, approximately 10 million more people than Rio.

Country
Brazil
Growth Rate
0.83%

86 Rows

Year
Population
203524,490,100
203424,370,800
203324,244,600
203224,111,400
203123,971,300
203023,824,200
202923,670,200
202823,509,400
202723,342,100
202623,168,700
202522,990,000
202422,806,700
202322,619,700
202222,429,800
202122,237,500
202022,043,000
201921,846,500
201821,650,200
201721,391,600
201621,136,200
201520,883,000
201420,633,300
201320,386,600
201220,143,100
201119,901,900
201019,659,800
200919,377,500
200819,099,600
200718,824,900
200618,554,600
200518,288,100
200418,025,900
200317,766,600
200217,511,500
200117,260,000
200017,014,100
199916,787,800
199816,564,800
199716,344,800
199616,128,000
199515,913,500
199415,702,100
199315,493,500
199215,288,000
199115,068,700
199014,775,800
198914,488,700
198814,207,500
198713,931,000
198613,660,300
198513,394,800
198413,134,900
198312,879,200
198212,629,000
198112,383,500
198012,089,500
197911,547,400
197811,030,400
197710,536,500
197610,065,300
19759,614,020
19749,183,540
19738,772,330
19728,380,070
19718,004,340
19707,620,490
19697,137,830
19686,686,350
19676,262,290
19665,865,660
19655,494,150
19645,146,630
19634,820,230
19624,514,930
19614,228,970
19603,969,760
19593,764,180
19583,569,500
19573,384,890
19563,210,070
19553,043,830
19542,886,410
19532,737,130
19522,595,760
19512,461,330
19502,334,040

86 Rows

Year
Population
Change
Growth
19502,334,0400%0
19512,461,3305.45%127,290
19522,595,7605.46%134,430
19532,737,1305.45%141,370
19542,886,4105.45%149,280
19553,043,8305.45%157,420
19563,210,0705.46%166,240
19573,384,8905.45%174,820
19583,569,5005.45%184,610
19593,764,1805.45%194,680
19603,969,7605.46%205,580
19614,228,9706.53%259,210
19624,514,9306.76%285,960
19634,820,2306.76%305,300
19645,146,6306.77%326,400
19655,494,1506.75%347,520
19665,865,6606.76%371,510
19676,262,2906.76%396,630
19686,686,3506.77%424,060
19697,137,8306.75%451,480
19707,620,4906.76%482,660
19718,004,3405.04%383,850
19728,380,0704.69%375,730
19738,772,3304.68%392,260
19749,183,5404.69%411,210
19759,614,0204.69%430,480
197610,065,3004.69%451,280
197710,536,5004.68%471,200
197811,030,4004.69%493,900
197911,547,4004.69%517,000
198012,089,5004.69%542,100
198112,383,5002.43%294,000
198212,629,0001.98%245,500
198312,879,2001.98%250,200
198413,134,9001.99%255,700
198513,394,8001.98%259,900
198613,660,3001.98%265,500
198713,931,0001.98%270,700
198814,207,5001.98%276,500
198914,488,7001.98%281,200
199014,775,8001.98%287,100
199115,068,7001.98%292,900
199215,288,0001.46%219,300
199315,493,5001.34%205,500
199415,702,1001.35%208,600
199515,913,5001.35%211,400
199616,128,0001.35%214,500
199716,344,8001.34%216,800
199816,564,8001.35%220,000
199916,787,8001.35%223,000
200017,014,1001.35%226,300
200117,260,0001.45%245,900
200217,511,5001.46%251,500
200317,766,6001.46%255,100
200418,025,9001.46%259,300
200518,288,1001.45%262,200
200618,554,6001.46%266,500
200718,824,9001.46%270,300
200819,099,6001.46%274,700
200919,377,5001.46%277,900
201019,659,8001.46%282,300
201119,901,9001.23%242,100
201220,143,1001.21%241,200
201320,386,6001.21%243,500
201420,633,3001.21%246,700
201520,883,0001.21%249,700
201621,136,2001.21%253,200
201721,391,6001.21%255,400
201821,650,2001.21%258,600
201921,846,5000.91%196,300
202022,043,0000.9%196,500
202122,237,5000.88%194,500
202222,429,8000.86%192,300
202322,619,7000.85%189,900
202422,806,7000.83%187,000
202522,990,0000.8%183,300
202623,168,7000.78%178,700
202723,342,1000.75%173,400
202823,509,4000.72%167,300
202923,670,2000.68%160,800
203023,824,2000.65%154,000
203123,971,3000.62%147,100
203224,111,4000.58%140,100
203324,244,6000.55%133,200
203424,370,8000.52%126,200
203524,490,1000.49%119,300

Sao Paulo Population Data (Urban Area)

Name
2024 Pop.
2024 Growth
Sao Paulo22,806,7000.83%
Rio De Janeiro13,824,3000.7%
Belo Horizonte6,300,4100.84%
Brasilia4,935,2701.28%
Recife4,305,1300.97%
Fortaleza4,246,4000.95%
Porto Alegre4,239,8700.66%
Salvador3,994,9800.92%
Curitiba3,852,4601.03%
Campinas3,458,4401.04%
Goiania2,890,4201.47%
Belem2,432,1800.95%
Manaus2,406,8501.31%
Grande Vitoria2,196,8201.21%
Baixada Santista1,965,1100.89%
Natal1,556,4101.37%
Grande Sao Luis1,536,0200.81%
Joao Pessoa1,435,1200.93%
Maceio1,375,9800.91%
Joinville1,361,9901%

Other Cities in Brazil

  1. Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - Sao Paolo data and statistics
  2. Portal Brazil - Brazil information and data

Sources