The release of the first data from the 2022 Census caught many by surprise. According to the IBGE, Brazil now has around 203 million inhabitants, a figure below the Institute's projection of 215 million. Another striking data point was the growth of midsize cities (100,000 to 499,000 inhabitants), which gained 8.3 million residents. Given that the country's population grew by 12 million since the 2010 Census, these cities account for more than two-thirds of that increase.
