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Foreign Investment in Brazil: 2023 | A StartBrazil Research Report
2023: the year real estate became Brazil's #1 investor-residency pathway.
Brazil published 354 investor-residency approvals in 2023 — a new record. Real estate took the outright majority for the first time: 184 approvals, 52% of the year, against 168 for the company route. This report analyzes every one of them — who invested, from where, and what it set up for the years that followed.
Published: July 15th, 2026
Research: Daniel Atz & Suzana Vilela Caetano Castro
Part of the yearly Foreign Investment in Brazil series — all editions & the 2018–2026 dashboard →Written By: Daniel Atz & Lauren Lowell
46
countries of origin
354
investor residency approvals in 2023
2
startup visa approvals — back to a rounding error
The Three Pathways
In 2023, real estate became the system's largest pathway.
Brazilian law offers foreign nationals three routes to residency by investment. They share an underlying legal framework but diverge sharply on cost, outcome — and who actually uses them.
Real Estate Investor
(RN 36/2018)
USD 190,000
≈BRL 1,000,000
Buy qualifying property in Brazil. Receive a 4-year temporary residency, then convert to permanent afterwords if you continue to meet the criteria.
184 approvals in 2023 — the outright majority (52%) for the first time. Five years earlier the ratio was 0 to 157.
Company Investor
(RN 13/2017)
USD 95,000
≈BRL 500,000
Invest in a Brazilian company. Receive permanent residency immediately, provided capital stays active for three years.
168 approvals in 2023. A recovery year for the route — but now the #2 pathway
Startup Investor
(RN 13/2017 ART 3)
USD 29,000
≈BRL 150,000
Invest in an innovative Brazilian startup. Receive permanent residency immediately — the same outcome as the BRL 500,000 company pathway, at less than a third the cost.
2 approvals in 2023 — a rounding error while its siblings set records.
Nationalities - All 3 Pathways
354 total investors. France and the US pull away from the pack.
France and the United States together represent 33% of all approvals. France set a new country record with 62; the US hit 56, its strongest count yet. Germany's 42 continued a four-year climb (12 → 19 → 35 → 42), and the UK reached 20, its record.
Europeans make up 64% of all approvals overall. The US accounts for 16%. China represents 6% — its best year since 2019, the first sign of the recovery that would define 2025.
France
62 investors
United States
56
Germany
42
Italy
37
China
22
Portugal
21
United Kingdom
20
+ 39 other countries
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