Brazil business registration speeds vary by region, study shows

A study by Adobe Acrobat titled ‘Mapa da Burocracia no Brasil’ reveals significant regional disparities in the time required to formalize businesses in Brazil. During the second quarter of 2025, the national average for business registration was 21 hours, though processing times varied from as little as seven hours to more than 34 hours depending on the state.

The South and Northeast regions were identified as the fastest for opening companies. In the South, performance is attributed to administrative stability and efficiency, while in the Northeast, states such as Piauí and Sergipe recorded the lowest average times of approximately seven hours. The study notes a 386% difference between the fastest and slowest states.

The recorded time specifically covers the public sector processing stages: feasibility analysis and business registration. This does not include the total time until a company is fully operational, which can take between 30 and 45 days for activities requiring specific licenses.