Sanitization in Brazil Current Demand Behavior Analysis¶
Demand Behavior¶
The demand behavior in the Brazilian sanitization sector is characterized by two primary customer segments: individual consumers (households) and business consumers (commercial establishments, industrial consumers, and municipalities for specific services). Analysis of the provided reports reveals the current scale of these customer bases and the expected trajectory of growth driven by national universalization targets.
Number of Individual Consumers (Households):
Individual consumers, primarily households, represent the largest portion of the demand for water supply and sanitary sewage services. Based on data from 2021, a significant majority of the Brazilian population has access to treated water, with coverage being particularly high in urban areas. Specifically, 84.2% of the total Brazilian population had access to treated water networks in 2021, with urban coverage reaching 93.5%. [Value Chain Analysis, Volumes and Sizes] For sanitary sewage collection, the coverage was lower, serving 64.1% of the urban population in 2021, which corresponds to 114.8 million urban inhabitants. [Value Chain Analysis, Volumes and Sizes] The total number of sewage connections in 2021 was reported at 36.4 million, which largely represents household connections but may also include some smaller commercial or industrial establishments. [Value Chain Analysis, Value Chain Summary Table] While a precise, separate count solely for households is not explicitly provided, these figures indicate a vast existing customer base for water and sewage services among the residential population.
Number of Business Consumers:
Business consumers comprise commercial establishments, industrial facilities, and municipalities acting as customers for specific services like urban cleaning, solid waste management, and urban rainwater drainage. The reports do not provide specific numbers for commercial or industrial water and sewage connections or establishments served; these are typically integrated within the broader network coverage data alongside residential users. The 36.4 million sewage connections mentioned in 2021 likely include a component of commercial and potentially some industrial users, in addition to households. [Value Chain Analysis, Value Chain Summary Table]
For urban cleaning and solid waste management, municipalities are key customers as they contract services for their territories. Data from 2021 was collected from 4,900 municipalities regarding solid waste management. [Value Chain Analysis, Value Chain Summary Table] Similarly, for urban rainwater drainage and management, data was collected from 4,573 municipalities in 2021, indicating the number of municipal entities involved in managing these services, often by contracting specialized companies. [Value Chain Analysis, Value Chain Summary Table] These figures represent the number of municipal customers for these specific segments of the sanitation industry.
Growth or Decline in the Number of Customers:
The current figures for service coverage (84.2% for total water, 64.1% for urban sewage collection in 2021) indicate that a significant portion of the Brazilian population and, consequently, potential individual and business customers, still lack access to essential sanitation services. [Value Chain Analysis, Volumes and Sizes] The New Legal Framework for Sanitation (Law nº 14.026/2020) establishes ambitious goals for universalization by 2033, targeting 99% access to treated water and 90% access to sewage collection and treatment. [Portal Gov.br, Marco Legal do Saneamento]
Achieving these targets necessitates a substantial growth in the number of served customers across both individual and business segments. The current state is below the defined goals, implying a mandated future expansion of the customer base.
While the reports do not provide year-over-year statistics on the total number of customers increasing or decreasing nationally in the most recent years (2024-2025), the strategic direction set by the New Legal Framework and the significant projected investments (estimated at R$ 72.4 billion in 2025 covering 855 municipalities [Value Chain Analysis, Volumes and Sizes]) are explicitly aimed at expanding infrastructure and service coverage, thereby increasing the number of customers served.
Furthermore, the significant increase in the number of municipalities served by private operators (a 466% increase to 1,648 municipalities since the New Legal Framework [Value Chain Analysis, Players Analysis]) indicates a growth in the number of municipalities engaging with private companies for service provision (a B2B customer relationship). This shift is intrinsically linked to the objective of accelerating the expansion of services to reach more individual and business end-users within these municipalities.
Therefore, while current data pinpoints existing coverage gaps, the clear objective and ongoing efforts, particularly spurred by the New Legal Framework and increased private sector participation, point towards an expected and necessary future growth in the number of both individual and business customers served by the Brazilian sanitization sector to meet the universalization targets. The current demand behavior reflects a substantial existing customer base with significant unmet demand that the sector is actively (though facing investment challenges) working to address, indicating a trend towards growth in the number of connections and served populations.
| Customer Segment | Current Coverage/Volume (Approximate, primarily 2021 data) | Universalization Target (by 2033) | Implied Growth Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Consumers (Water Supply) | 84.2% of total population served [Value Chain Analysis, Volumes and Sizes] | 99% of population served [Portal Gov.br, Marco Legal do Saneamento] | Growth |
| Individual Consumers (Sewage Collection) | 64.1% of urban population served [Value Chain Analysis, Volumes and Sizes] | 90% of population served [Portal Gov.br, Marco Legal do Saneamento] | Significant Growth |
| Business Consumers (Commercial/Industrial) | Included in overall network data/connections (36.4M sewage connections in 2021 likely includes some) [Value Chain Analysis, Value Chain Summary Table] | Expected to increase with overall network expansion | Growth |
| Business Consumers (Municipalities - Solid Waste) | Data collected from 4,900 municipalities in 2021 [Value Chain Analysis, Value Chain Summary Table] | Universal proper disposal targeted (implies increased contracting) | Growth in managed services |
| Business Consumers (Municipalities - Drainage) | Data collected from 4,573 municipalities in 2021 [Value Chain Analysis, Value Chain Summary Table] | Improved urban drainage needed (implies increased contracting) | Growth in managed services |
References¶
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