Brazil Retirement Outlook 2026

1The wealth picture

Brazilians who file income tax declared R$19.4 trillion of assets for 2024, and filers aged 61 and over hold almost two-fifths of it. These are declared values at purchase cost, before debts, and most of this wealth stays in Brazil.²

• Declared assets, 2024R$19.42TBy 41.7 million filers, at cost, before R$1.35 trillion of declared debts; about US$3.60 trillion (our conversion)^{2, 14}
• Held by filers aged 61+39.3%R$7.64 trillion, about US$1.42 trillion (our conversion); they are 21.3% of filers^{2, 14}
• Average, filers aged 61+R$858,800of declared assets per filer, against R$466,100 for all filers (our calculations)²

US$ values use the 2024 average rate of R$5.3920 per US$ (our conversion). Only people who file are counted, and assets are generally declared at what they cost, not what they are worth today.^{14, 2}

Our sums from Receita's Table 3, in Receita's own age bands; the all-filers row is Receita's Table 1 total. Receita withholds a few small filer counts (124 filers in all), so the counts by age may be very slightly low. The asset sums are complete.

Money passed on

• Very concentrated. At least 4,957 filers who each received more than R$5 million got R$137.1 billion, or 54.9% of the 2024 total (our calculation). About 452,000 filers declared any gift or inheritance.²
• About half goes to people aged 41 to 60. Recipients aged 41 to 50 declared R$68.2 billion and those aged 51 to 60 R$55.6 billion, together 49.7% of the total. Recipients aged 61 and over got 21.9% (our calculations).²
• A share of the wealth is already abroad. Filers declared R$1.23 trillion of assets located outside Brazil, 6.3% of the total. Filers aged 61 and over hold 46.5% of it (our calculation). The data say nothing about the DR.²
• Very unequal. A newspaper report of UBS's 2026 wealth report puts Brazil's US-dollar millionaires at about 386,000 at the end of 2025, and its wealth Gini at 0.81, the fourth highest of 56 markets. About 69% of adults hold less than US$10,000. We could not open the UBS report itself.¹⁵

The long view. UBS expects nearly US$9 trillion to be passed on in Brazil over the next 20 to 25 years, to heirs or between spouses. That is the second-largest amount of the 56 markets it studies, after the US (over US$29 trillion). It is a bank's model, not an official figure, and it does not say where the money will be spent.¹

Why 2024 jumped. Receita does not say. Gifts made early, before the inheritance-tax reform, are one possible reason (our reading). Since January 2026 a national law requires each state's inheritance and gift tax (ITCMD) to rise with the size of the share or gift, to be charged on market value, and to stay within a ceiling set by the Senate. Each state sets its own rates.¹⁶

2Homes and businesses changing hands

Most older Brazilians live in a home that is paid for, property is the largest block of declared wealth, and a record number of business owners are 60 or over. Most of this wealth stays in Brazil.^{17, 2, 18}

• Home paid for, aged 65+83.2%of people aged 65 and over live in a home owned by a resident and fully paid, inherited or gifted (Census 2022)¹⁷
• Homes declared, 2024R$4.41TApartments, houses and residential buildings in Brazil declared by filers of all ages, at cost²
• Business owners 60+4.3Mat the end of 2024, a record, up 53% since 2012¹⁸

• Paid-off homes. 18.4 million of the 22.1 million people aged 65 and over live in a home that is paid for, inherited or gifted. Another 3.2% live in a home still being paid for, and 9.8% rent. For all ages the paid-off share is 63.6%.¹⁷
• People, not owners. The census counts residents, so an older person living in a child's paid-off home counts too. It gives no values, and we found no figures on how many older Brazilians sell or downsize.¹⁷
• Property is the biggest block of declared wealth. Real estate is R$6.64 trillion, 34.2% of all declared assets, including R$67.5 billion abroad. Apartments in Brazil account for R$2.27 trillion and houses for R$1.85 trillion. These are purchase costs before mortgages, for all ages together.²

Business owners near retirement

Sebrae's article does not define “business owner”; it describes them as owners of small businesses. Company stakes are declared at cost, not what a business would sell for, and cover all ages. The PwC figure is second-hand: its year and sample could not be checked.

Owners who sell turn a lifetime's work into cash at about the age when many decide where to retire. Most will stay in Brazil (our reading).

3Ageing: people aged 65 and over, now and in 2035

Brazil is ageing fast. IBGE projects about 10 million more people aged 65 and over in ten years, and the UN agrees closely.^{6, 7}

• Aged 65+, 202524.7M11.6% of the population (IBGE projection)⁶
• Aged 65+, 203534.7M15.8% of the population (IBGE projection)⁶
• Aged 80+, 20358.0MUp from 5.0 million in 2025 (IBGE projection)⁶
• Median age, 203540.0Up from 35.7 in 2025. At 60, people can expect about 23 more years²⁰

Changes are our calculations. Both are projections at 1 July, not counts.

The next group to retire is large too: the UN puts people aged 55 to 64 at 22.9 million in 2025 and 26.8 million in 2035.⁷ Life expectancy at 60 rises from 22.7 years in 2025 to 23.8 years in 2035 on IBGE's projection.²⁰ If the share of retirees who move abroad stays the same, the number who move still rises (our reasoning).

4Brazilians abroad, and pensions paid abroad

About 5 million Brazilians live abroad, just over half of them in the US and Portugal (our calculation), and only about 900 in the DR. Brazil's benefit payments into foreign banks go mainly to Portugal, Spain and Japan, and the DR is not listed.^{4, 21}

Payments, not people, and not only retirement pensions: in December 2024, 57.53% were age pensions and 24.12% survivors' pensions. Pensioners abroad who are paid into a Brazilian bank account are not counted here or anywhere else we found.²²

• A newer count. A press report of Itamaraty's 2025 consular report puts Brazilians abroad at nearly 5.3 million, with 2,067,225 in the US and 628,000 in Portugal. We did not see the report itself or its DR figure.²³
• Two ways of counting. The UN models 2,194,325 people born in Brazil living abroad in 2024, less than half of Itamaraty's figure (our calculation). The UN counts people by birthplace; Itamaraty counts Brazilian citizens, from embassy and consulate estimates.^{24, 4}
• Some still file in Brazil. 36,169 income-tax returns for 2024 gave an address abroad, and 5,409 of them came from filers aged 61 and over.²

Who wants to leave

• Four in ten are interested. In a Febraban survey of 3,000 people (November to December 2025), 40% of those surveyed said they were interested in leaving Brazil. Among Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) the share was 25%, and among Generation X 35%.²⁵
• Europe and the US first. Europe drew 60% of mentions (Portugal 22%, Italy 12%, Spain 8%), the US 37% and Canada 9%. The press report does not mention the Caribbean. Interest is not the same as moving.²⁵
• Older Brazilians, 2018. In a Datafolha poll released in June 2018, 24% of people aged 60 and over said they would like to live abroad, against 62% of those aged 16 to 24. Among all respondents, the US was the favourite destination, ahead of Portugal and Canada.²⁶
• Where the DR fits. The pension payments, the consular counts and the surveys point mostly to Europe and the US. The surveys do not name the Dominican Republic, the pension payments do not list it, and the consular count puts only about 900 Brazilians there. So a DR business is reaching a small group that looks further afield (our reading).^{21, 4}

5The Dominican Republic connection

Visits from Brazil are growing fast, and almost all are holidays with a hotel stay, landing at Punta Cana. Very few Brazilians settle, though residencies rose in 2025.^{3, 8, 9}

• Air arrivals, 2025141,256Trips by residents of Brazil, a record; January to July 2026 up 20.3% (our calculation)³
• Brazilians in the DRabout 900Itamaraty estimate for 2023; the UN models 724 people born in Brazil (2024)^{4, 24}
• Residencies, 2025446Granted to Brazilian citizens, all types; 311 in 2018⁹
• Direct passengers, 2025127,864On Brazil–DR flights, both directions, flown by Arajet and Gol²⁷

The 2025 total is the highest in the central bank's series since at least 2006. Residents of Brazil made 1.92% of the 7,341,745 air arrivals of foreign non-residents, ninth among countries of residence (the file lists Puerto Rico separately) and fourth in South America after Argentina, Colombia and Chile. From January to July 2026, arrivals from Brazil rose 20.3% and all foreign non-resident arrivals 10.2% (our calculations).³

Fewer visitors from Brazil are 50 or over than among all foreign visitors, and the top age band is “50 and over”, so the data cannot show who is retired. Counted by passport, 157,084 arrivals of Brazilian citizens came in 2025, about 15,800 more than arrivals of Brazil residents. So at least about 15,800 trips were made by Brazilian citizens living outside Brazil (our inference; the file does not say where they live).^{8, 28, 3}

In 2025 the 446 residencies were 4 definitive, 39 permanent and 403 temporary. That is 1.28% of all 34,778 residencies granted, 14th among all nationalities (our calculations). Residencies to all nationalities rose from 19,698 in 2018 to 34,778 in 2025, mainly to Haitian and Venezuelan citizens. The file covers every type (work, family, investment and pensioner) and does not say whether renewals are included.⁹

The UN models 724 people born in Brazil living in the DR in mid-2024 (950 in 1990), close in scale to Itamaraty's 900 Brazilian citizens. Slightly more people born in the DR live in Brazil: 906.^{24, 4}

Getting there

The civil aviation board (JAC) thinks Brazil's visitors probably connect mainly via Panama, and calls such markets “clear strategic opportunities”. Direct-flight passengers include Dominicans and people changing planes.

Announcements, not timetables. Check current schedules before relying on this.

Money, costs and rules

• Lowest INSS pensionR$1,621A month in 2026, one minimum wage; about US$313 (our conversion)^{31, 32, 14}
• Law 171-07, as writtenUS$1,500A month: the minimum pension income in the 2007 text; a Dominican lawyer must confirm³³
• Tax-free pension, 2026R$5,000A month: INSS pensions to residents abroad up to this amount pay no Brazilian tax from January 2026 (Receita rule, not tax advice)³⁴
• Everyday prices84%DR household prices as a share of Brazil's, 2024; about 83% in 2025 (our calculations)³⁵

The price comparison is a national average basket, not an expat's costs: imported goods, private health care and gated housing cost more. The dollar figure uses R$5.1795 per US$ (24 September 2026).^{35, 14}

• The lowest pension is far below the Law 171-07 amount. One minimum wage, about US$313 a month, is far below the US$1,500 in Law 171-07 as written in 2007, so a mover's other income matters. A Dominican lawyer must confirm what counts. The average INSS pension was not checked for this report.^{31, 32, 33}
• Moving a pension abroad. INSS transfers a pension to a foreign bank only in countries with a social security agreement with Brazil, and the BPC/LOAS assistance benefit cannot be paid abroad.¹¹
• Is the DR an agreement country? Sources conflict. Brazil's pension ministry lists the Ibero-American social security convention as in force for 11 countries, and the DR is not among them (a list dated October 2016). A 2022 article by the DR presidency names both the DR and Brazil among the countries where it works. The DR does not appear in Brazil's payments abroad. Only INSS can confirm.^{12, 13, 21}
• Tax on the pension. Since 18 December 2025, Brazil taxes INSS pensions paid to residents abroad on its normal progressive tables, not at a flat 25%; from January 2026 there is no tax up to R$5,000 a month and less tax up to R$7,350. Brazil has no tax treaty with the DR, and how the DR taxes the pension was not researched.^{34, 10}
• Health. The Brazilian embassy says it cannot pay for medical care, medicines or hospital stays for Brazilians in the DR, and it advises international health insurance.³⁶

6What it means for DR businesses serving people from Brazil

What the figures mean for a Dominican business serving people from Brazil.

• Speak Portuguese, and know the Brazilian paperwork

  A Brazilian mover's pension, tax and bank papers come from INSS and the Receita Federal, in Portuguese. A business that can explain them in Portuguese removes a hard step. Few Brazilians live in the DR yet, and only 1.8% of visitors from Brazil came to see friends or family in 2025, so most arrive without a local contact (our reading).^{4, 8}

• Meet them on holiday, in Punta Cana

  94.8% of visitors living in Brazil land at Punta Cana and 93.1% stay in hotels, so a first contact will often be at their hotel (our reading). Direct flights leave almost only from São Paulo, and more than half of Brazil's visitors come another way (our calculation), probably via Panama in the civil aviation board's view.^{3, 8, 27}

• The services they need

  The needs that follow from Brazilian rules:

  • Health insurers and clinics: the Brazilian embassy cannot pay for medical care in the DR and advises international health insurance.³⁶
  • Banks and money transfer: INSS moves pensions to foreign banks only in agreement countries, and whether the DR counts is unclear until INSS confirms.^{11, 12, 13}
  • Paperwork help: INSS pensioners abroad must prove they are alive once a year, in their birthday month, with a certificate valid for 90 days. From a country without an agreement, the papers go to INSS in Brasília.³⁷
  • Tax advisers: there is no Brazil–DR tax treaty, and since December 2025 Brazil taxes pensions paid abroad on its progressive tables, with no tax up to R$5,000 a month from January 2026. A Brazilian tax adviser must check each case.^{10, 34}
  • Residency lawyers: as written in 2007, Law 171-07 asks for a pension of at least US$1,500 a month (US$2,000 a month for rentistas). According to a press summary (El Inmobiliario, 26 June 2026), Law 30-26 may change how incentives combine. A Dominican lawyer must confirm the current rules.^{33, 38}

• What a pension looks like

  Brazil's lowest INSS pension is one minimum wage, R$1,621 a month in 2026, about US$313 (our conversion). That is far below the US$1,500 in Law 171-07 as written in 2007, so a mover on the lowest pension would need other income; a Dominican lawyer must confirm what counts.^{31, 32, 14, 33}

• Stay honest about the size

  446 residencies of every type went to Brazilian citizens in 2025, and about 900 Brazilians live in the DR.^{9, 4} Most Brazilian wealth stays in Brazil, and most Brazilians abroad live in the US and Europe.⁴ The opportunity is to be found early, in Portuguese, by the few visitors who start to think about a longer stay. Retire.do puts a business's listing next to its guides and move plan. It cannot promise customers, and the site has no traffic figures yet.

7Risks and caveats

• Wealth in Brazil is not money in the DR. No source estimates how much Brazilian wealth, inheritance or pension income is spent abroad, let alone in the Dominican Republic. Most of it stays in Brazil.
• Declared values, not market wealth. Receita's figures cover only people who file (41.7 million returns), at purchase cost and before R$1.35 trillion of declared debts. Year-on-year changes are nominal, not adjusted for inflation.^{2, 5}
• A bank's model and press reports. UBS's nearly US$9 trillion is a model over 20 to 25 years. The millionaire count and wealth Gini come from a newspaper report of UBS's 2026 report, and the PwC, Febraban, Datafolha and newer Itamaraty figures come through the press. The Datafolha poll dates from 2018.^{1, 15, 19, 25, 26, 23}
• Arrivals are trips, not people. Repeat visitors count each time, and the central bank's figures are weighted estimates. The method changed in 2021, when the paper form gave way to the electronic e-ticket, so comparisons with earlier years cross a change of method.³
• Residency counts cover every type. The DGM file counts work, family, investment and pensioner residencies together and does not say whether renewals are included. Brazil's 446 in 2025 was the highest in the file, which starts in 2018, but January to August 2026 (273) was about the same as the same months of 2025 (263). Across all nationalities, residencies rose from 19,698 in 2018 to 34,778 in 2025, mainly to Haitian and Venezuelan citizens.⁹
• Two counts of Brazilians abroad. Itamaraty's 5.0 million are consular estimates of citizens; the UN's 2.2 million are modelled by birthplace. They measure different things.^{4, 24}
• Payments, not pensioners. Brazil's figures count benefit payments into foreign banks in agreement countries, including survivors' pensions. Pensioners abroad paid into Brazilian accounts are not counted anywhere we found.^{21, 22}
• Agreement status unclear. Brazil's ministry leaves the DR off its list of countries where the Ibero-American convention is in force; the DR presidency's 2022 article includes it (and says “12 countries” while listing 11). Only INSS can settle this.^{12, 13}
• Law and tax are not advice here. Law 171-07 (as written in 2007), Law 30-26 (known here only from a press summary), Brazil's tax on pensions paid abroad and how the DR taxes them all need a Dominican lawyer and a Brazilian tax adviser.^{33, 38, 34}
• Safety. Brazil's government publishes no risk level for the DR that we found. Its embassy's travel guidance (updated 1 May 2024) asks Brazilian tourists to take great care when buying services such as hotel loyalty programmes, to avoid irregular taxis, transport and lodging, and to rent cars from known firms. It advises travel insurance, though the DR does not require it. The embassy says it cannot pay medical or hospital costs (page updated 30 July 2025).^{39, 36}
• Flights change. The LATAM and Arajet schedules are announcements in the trade press; check current timetables.^{29, 30}
• Currency. US$ figures are our conversions at R$5.3920 per US$ (2024 average) or R$5.1795 (24 September 2026), and they move with the exchange rate.¹⁴

8Sources

Where only press coverage could be read, the source line says so. “Our calculation” means we derived the figure from published numbers; the publisher did not print it.