After working with Brazilian government data for a while, I've found the landscape confusing to navigate. Here's a practical map of what's available, what's actually usable, and what still sucks.
The good: what actually works
CNPJ / Company Registry (Receita Federal)
Best source for: any product that needs to verify, enrich, or display Brazilian company data.
The public dataset covers 65M+ registrations with full address, economic activity (CNAE), partner/director list (QSA), and contact info when declared. Updated monthly.
- Raw dump:
dados.gov.br(~7GB compressed CSV) - Already indexed + searchable: Jurídico Online — works for company name, CNPJ, or partner name lookups. Free.
Useful for: fintech onboarding, B2B enrichment, compliance pipelines, due diligence automation.
CEP / Address (multiple sources)
ViaCEP is the go-to. Free, no key required, returns full address from 8-digit ZIP.
curl https://viacep.com.br/ws/01310100/json/
BrasilAPI aggregates multiple sources and handles fallback.
IBGE Localities
5,571 municipalities with IDs, state codes, population (from census). Clean REST API, no auth.
curl https://servicodados.ibge.gov.br/api/v1/localidades/municipios
Essential for any location-based feature in Brazil. The codmun field links to dozens of other IBGE datasets.
BACEN (Central Bank)
Surprisingly good API. Time series for SELIC, IPCA, exchange rates, bank data.
# Last 5 SELIC values
curl "https://api.bcb.gov.br/dados/serie/bcdata.sgs.11/dados/ultimos/5?formato=json"
No auth needed. Rate limits exist but are generous for normal usage.
Câmara dos Deputados
Full voting records, expenses, profiles for all 513 deputies. Well-maintained REST API.
curl "https://dadosabertos.camara.leg.br/api/v2/deputados?itens=10"
Good for civic tech, journalism tools, transparency apps.
The bad: what's technically available but painful
Portal da Transparência — has everything (federal spending, employee salaries, contracts) but requires an API key (free), has aggressive rate limits, and documentation is incomplete. Worth it for the data quality.
TSE Electoral — candidate data is available but broken across multiple endpoints with inconsistent schemas each election cycle. Expect to write adapters.
Diário Oficial — published daily as PDF and XML. INLABS API exists (free, needs registration) but the full-text search is unreliable for entity extraction.
The ugly: what's missing
- Consolidated debt data: available as raw CSV dumps from PGFN (Procuradoria-Geral da Fazenda Nacional), quarterly, ~10GB. No searchable interface. You process it yourself.
- State registries (Juntas Comerciais): 27 separate systems, most without APIs, some requiring physical visits. The national integration (REDESIM) is partial.
- Real-time company changes: no webhook API. You poll or parse the Diário Oficial.
Quick reference
| Data | Source | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65M+ companies | Jurídico Online / RF dump | Free | Best UI for lookup |
| CEP | ViaCEP / BrasilAPI | Free, no key | |
| Municipalities | IBGE Localidades API | Free, no key | |
| SELIC / IPCA / FX | BACEN SGS API | Free, no key | |
| Congress votes | Câmara API | Free, no key | |
| Federal spending | Portal Transparência | Free, key needed | |
| Electoral data | TSE Dados Abertos | Free | Painful schema |
If you're building something with Brazilian data and hit a wall, drop a comment. Happy to help navigate the mess.
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