## How to find manufacturers in Brazil

URL: https://testigomexico.com/guides/find-manufacturers-brazil
Updated: 2026-10-07

Start from the CNPJ register, which lists every legal entity in Brazil with its activity code, and search it by product, by CNAE code or by state. Testigo holds 580,085 active manufacturing establishments from the 2026-09-14 edition, each with its CNPJ and, for most, a phone or an email.

Key facts:
- Registry: CNPJ, Receita Federal
- Edition read: 2026-09-14
- Establishments loaded: 580,085
- With a phone or an email: 541,618
- States: 27
- Activity codes: 419

### A method that starts from the register

1. Search by product or process: Search Brazil in English or Portuguese: plastic injection, fundição de alumínio, autopeças. The count comes first, then the plants.
2. Or start from the code: If you know the CNAE code, open the Brazil directory. Each activity page gives the count, the states and the share of plants with a contact on record.
3. Narrow by state: The statistics page shows the count for each of the 27 states and the Federal District, and each one links to its largest activities.
4. Read the size class: The register gives a class by revenue: micro, small, or other. It does not count staff. Use the class to leave out the smallest companies, then ask for headcount.
5. Check the CNPJ: Read the CNPJ of each plant on your shortlist against CEIS and CNEP.

### How large the base is

Establishments loaded, by the register's size class

| Class, as Receita Federal defines it | Establishments |
| --- | --- |
| Micro company | 377,121 |
| Small company | 120,359 |
| Other: above the small-company limit | 82,605 |

The class is set by revenue and belongs to the company, not to one site. Medium and large companies are not split.

### What the contacts are worth

The register holds a phone on 93.1% of manufacturing rows and an email on 84.2%. Treat both with care. Some phone numbers are placeholders, and the email is often the mailbox of the company's accountant. The register has no website field.

Testigo checks whether each email domain accepts mail and shows the date. With Pro, a first message can be drafted in Portuguese from a fixed template.

### What the search does not tell you

- A CNAE code is the activity a company registered, not a list of what it can make.
- The register has no coordinates. A position on a record is the centre of the municipality, labelled approximate.
- Certificates, capacity and quality are in no registry. Testigo has not visited any plant.
- The files were read from a public mirror and have not yet been compared with the official copies.

Fields, statuses and lists for Brazil, in one place.

### Questions

**How many manufacturers are there in Brazil?**
The CNPJ register lists 2,130,368 manufacturing establishments with the status ATIVA in its 2026-09-14 edition. Many belong to sole proprietors. Testigo leaves those out and holds 580,085 establishments of legal entities. The statistics page gives the count by state and by sector, with a file to download.

**Can I search Brazilian manufacturers in English?**
Yes. Search words are matched in English and in Portuguese against company names, the CNAE activity and a dictionary of products and processes. Activity names are shown in English, and the registry's own Portuguese wording is on the record. A Portuguese term often finds more, because company names are in Portuguese.

**Which Brazilian states have the most manufacturers?**
The count by state is on the Brazil statistics page, computed from the same edition of the register, with the share each state holds. Each state with enough plants also has its own page, listing its largest activities and municipalities. The figures change when Receita Federal publishes a new edition.

Sources:
- Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica (CNPJ), dados abertos, Receita Federal, edition 2026-09-14: https://dados.gov.br/dados/conjuntos-dados/cadastro-nacional-da-pessoa-juridica---cnpj
- CEIS and CNEP, CGU, Portal da Transparência, edition 2026-10-02: https://portaldatransparencia.gov.br/download-de-dados/ceis


Cite as: Testigo, "How to find manufacturers in Brazil", https://testigomexico.com/guides/find-manufacturers-brazil, data file 2026-10-12.

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This is the Markdown version of https://testigomexico.com/guides/find-manufacturers-brazil. Testigo: Testigo is supplier intelligence for people who source from Latin America: a search over manufacturers taken from the official public registry of each country. Each record shows its source, its date and what was not checked.