Entrepreneur Numbers Drop in Four States as Maranhão Posts Largest Gain

Overview

• Poder360 reporting of Sebrae data on Saturday shows the total number of entrepreneurs fell between Q4 2020 and Q4 2025 in Acre, Sergipe, Paraíba and Pernambuco, with Acre down 28.8% from 101,477 to 72,209.
• Maranhão recorded the biggest increase in the same five-year span, rising 32% from 750,761 to 991,307 in the count of business owners.
• Sebrae finds 12 states where at least 80% of entrepreneurs earn up to two minimum wages, and all of those states are in Brazil’s North or Northeast, signaling concentrated low incomes in those regions.
• Formalization is strongest in the South—Santa Catarina 50%, Rio Grande do Sul 48% and Paraná 46%—while the 15 lowest formalization rates are in the North and Northeast and Maranhão ranks last at 11%.
• The data show wide variation in female business ownership by state and imply policy risks for informal, low-income entrepreneurs who lack access to credit, benefits and market support, a challenge Sebrae statistics highlight for targeted local programs.