Brazil’s Latest Pay-Transparency Report Finds Women Earn 21.3% Less in Large Private Firms

Overview

• Brazil’s Ministry of Labor and Employment, in a report released Monday, found a 21.3% average pay gap in companies with 100 or more workers using RAIS payroll records from about 53,000 establishments for 2023 to 2025.
• Women’s formal jobs rose 11% to 8.0 million in that period and employment for Black and mixed‑race women climbed 29% to 4.2 million, yet the median hiring pay gap widened to 14.3% from 13.7%.
• Women received 35.2% of total wages while holding 41.4% of jobs, which the ministry estimates would take an extra R$95.5 billion in pay to balance, a shift it says could lift household spending but raise costs for firms.
• Pay gaps differ across Brazil, with smaller disparities in Acre, Piauí and the Federal District and larger ones in Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Paraná, showing local labor markets and industry mixes shape outcomes.
• Companies report more flexible hours, childcare aid, longer parental leave and clearer career paths under the 2023 equal pay law, yet officials describe the gap as statistically stable and note wider differences in bigger firms and higher‑level roles.