- The objective of the Single Registry is to be a source of information to federal social policies and programs directed to the low-income segments of the Brazilian population.
- The Single Registry has specific strategies to include the traditional and specific population groups. Together with states and municipalities, the national coordination of the Single Registry promotes initiatives of “active search” of people and families of these groups that historically face difficulties in accessing the public equipments and services.
- The Single Registry has specific procedures for the registration of Traditional and Specific Groups (GPTE). Among these groups there are the following categories:
- Ethnic groups, comprehending indigenous populations, quilombo communities, gypsies and Afro-American religious communities;
- Environmental groups, comprehending extractivists, artisanal fishermen and communities at river’s margins;
- Rural groups, like family farmers, agrarian reform settlers, camped groups and beneficiaries of the National Program of Land Credit (PNCF);
- Situational groups, like people affected by infrastructure enterprises, inmates in the prison system, gatherers of recyclable materials and homeless population.
- The federal government provides resources and technical assistance to states and municipalities for actions to include the members of these groups in the Single Registry, as this enables them to have access to initiatives in all three levels of government.
- Around 40 federal programs and several state and municipal programs use the Single Registry to select their target groups and for monitoring/evaluation. The Single Registry is used as source of data about the vulnerable population by other initiatives of the federal government.
There are 42.025.329 families and 96.781.810 persons in the Single Registry in April 2024. The average number of persons per family is 2.30.
The budget of the Single Registry in 2024 is R$ 96.683.129, 00 (U$ 18,883. 423.- U$ 5,12).
The Single Registry operates with a network of decentralized and intersectoral management that involves the federal government, states and municipalities.The discussion of the issues related to the Single Registry happens in the forums of political negotiation and social participation of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS).
There is a set of informational tools to disseminate the information of the Single Registry:
Observatório do Cadastro Único (Single Registry’s Observatory) - interactive panel to improve the use of the Single Registry’s data. Aims to promote the use of the Single Registry’s data in the diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation of social policies and programs. Target group: professionals of the decentralized management network of the Single System of Social Assistance – SUAS.
CECAD 2.0 – Tabulator, aggregated data and extractor of microdata from the Single Registry. Presents aggregated data of the Single Registry, in graphs with historical perspective, profile of registered persons and families, statistics of data qualification processes, among others. The data can be accessed in national, state, district and municipal levels. Includes functionalities as the TABCAD, which permits crossing of the Single Registry’s variables, and shows historical series, frequencies and panels of the Single Registry.
Monitora MDS (Monitoring MDS) - presents indicators of the programs of the Institutional Strategic Planning of MDS, improving transparency and communication about the main results and deliveries of the institution.
Bolsa Família e Cadastro Único no Município (Family Grant and Single Registry in the municipalities) – allows the generation of complete reports of Family Grant and Single Registry at the municipal level. Presents panels of indications and informational material of Family Grant and Single Registry. Presents data to support the municipal management.
Relatório de Informações (Informational Report) - presents synthetic data of the main initiatives of MDS. Provides data of population profile and several types of reports. Data on national, state, district and municipal levels and on special areas.
Visdata - allows visualization of disaggregated data of MDS’s social programs. Present indicators, historical series, customizable maps and allows the download of data bases. Data on national, state, district and municipal levels and on special and customizable areas. Centralizes the MDS’s data about its programs.
MOPS - allows access to georeferenced information about the availability of services, public equipments, social programs and data from the Single Registry. Allows the visualization of the location and contact information of public equipments. Allows the generation of social and territorial reports based on the information from the Single Registry and Demographic Census and the production of personalized cartograms.
Documenta Wiki - source of information about the MDS’s policies, programs and services and about indicators and the data bases used to calculate them.
- Sobre as utilidades do Cadastro Único - The purpose of the Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico) is to register and maintain updated information on all Brazilian families with a per capita income of less than R$120. Although the use of CadÚnico continues to focus on selecting beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF), there is a wide range of uses that have already been incipiently adopted or could be used in the future. Three characteristics of CadÚnico define its possible uses. First, its scope is almost census-based, covering almost the entire poorest population in the country. Second, due to its registration nature, CadÚnico includes the name and address of this poor population. Finally, although the selection of PBF beneficiaries uses only income information, CadÚnico contains a wide variety of information on the living conditions of these families that can be used to prepare diagnoses and define the country's social policy. Thus, the objective of this work is to demonstrate that this variety of information available on families, and the possibility of identifying them, means that this registry has numerous uses. More specifically, we seek to demonstrate how this information can be used to prepare diagnoses on the living conditions of families, municipalities, states and even the country as a whole. Socio-economic Profile of Programa Bolsa Família Recipients: What Does the Single Registry Reveal? - In March 2013, the Single Registry database contained information on 24.5 million families, of which 23 million (91 per cent) had per capita household incomes of under half the minimum wage — the income bracket that encompasses its targeted group. Out of this population, 13.9million households (or 50 million people — roughly 26 per cent of the Brazilian population) are PBF beneficiaries and receive an average benefit of R$149.71.These families comprise 3.6 people on average. Most of them (50.2 per cent) live in the north-eastern region of the country.
- The single registry as a tool for the coordination of social policies - Given Brazil's continental size, the vast coverage of the network is undeniably attractive for user programmes, since most of them have little to no decentralised structure that is able to meet the demand for information and services by the population when it becomes aware of the existence of these programmes. Thus, the Registry takes on an additional role, becoming a key way for user programmes to reach their beneficiaries.
- Social Protection Series – Policy Brief #1: Financing of Brazil’s Unified Social Assistance System - SUAS is the backbone of the Cadastro Único, Brazil’s unified registry for social programs, ensuring accurate and up-to-date data for poverty targeting. Municipal SUAS teams enroll families, verify their socioeconomic status, and continuously update records, which are then used to determine eligibility for PBF, BPC, and other federal initiatives. The text emphasizes how SUAS’s decentralized management of the registry prevents exclusion errors and fraud while enabling dynamic adjustments to beneficiary lists in an efficient governance model. By detailing SUAS’s role in maintaining the Cadastro Único, the text provides clear evidence of how this system enhances the efficiency and fairness of Brazil’s social policies.
The main lessons are the need of continuous investment in the modernization of the system of the Single Registry and the importance of being aware of the impact of the user program’s design in the quality of the data of the Single Registry.
- Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA)
- Secretariat for Evaluation, Information Management and Single Registry (SAGICAD) at the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger (MDS)
- Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)
- National School of Public Administration (ENAP)
Multimedia:
- Video - Cadastro Único 25 anos: conhecer para incluir: A commemorative video celebrating 25 years of Brazil's Single Registry (Cadastro Único), illustrating its role as a dynamic map of the nation's vulnerable populations. It highlights how the registry successfully connects marginalised groups, including traditional communities, to over 40 essential social programmes through targeted, active search strategies, serving as the primary gateway for inclusion in the national social protection system.
- Video - Novo Cadastro Único: porta aberta para direitos: A video introducing the technological modernisation of Brazil's Single Registry (Novo Cadastro Único) rolled out in 2025. It highlights critical system upgrades designed to streamline the work of technical teams and improve data accuracy for poverty alleviation, including offline capabilities, mobile data collection, real-time database cross-referencing and integration, and the use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance data quality.
Note: The video is in Portuguese, but subtitles are available in multiple languages.
SDG 1 - No poverty
- Target 1.1 - By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
- Indicator 1.1.1 - Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
- Target 1.2 - By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.1 - Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
- Indicator 1.2.2 - Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 - Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 2 - Zero hunger
- Target 2.1 - By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.1 - Prevalence of undernourishment
- Indicator 2.1.2 - Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
- Target 2.2 - By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
- Indicator 2.2.1 - Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age
- Indicator 2.2.2 - Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
- Indicator 2.2.3 - Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)
SDG 4 - Quality education
- Target 4.3 - By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
- Indicator 4.3.1 - Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
- Target 4.4 - By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
- Indicator 4.4.1 - Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill
- Target 4.5 - By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
- Indicator 4.5.1 - Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
SDG 5 - Gender equality
- Target 5.1 - End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
- Indicator 5.1.1 - Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex
SDG 8 - Decent work and economic growth
- Target 8.5 - By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
- Indicator 8.5.1 - Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities
- Indicator 8.5.2 - Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
SDG 10 - Reducing inequalities
- Target 10.1 - By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 - Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 - By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 - Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
Emergency cash transfers in fragile and humanitarian contexts;
Environmentally conditioned cash transfer (ECCT);
Institutional markets, including public procurement and pro-poor food pricing;
Disability benefits;
Social care services;
Digital transformation of social protection information systems;
Unconditional cash transfer
SDG 1 – No poverty
- Target 1.1 – By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
- Indicator 1.1.1 – Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
- Target 1.2 – By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.1 – Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
- Indicator 1.2.2 – Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 – Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 – Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
- Target 2.1 – By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.1 – Prevalence of undernourishment
- Indicator 2.1.2 – Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
- Target 2.2 – By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
- Indicator 2.2.1 – Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age
- Indicator 2.2.2 – Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
- Indicator 2.2.3 – Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)
SDG 4 – Quality education
- Target 4.3 – By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
- Indicator 4.3.1 – Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
- Target 4.4 – By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
- Indicator 4.4.1 – Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill
- Target 4.5 – By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
- Indicator 4.5.1 – Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
SDG 5 – Gender equality
- Target 5.1 – End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
- Indicator 5.1.1 – Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
- Target 8.5 – By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
- Indicator 8.5.1 – Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities
- Indicator 8.5.2 – Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
SDG 10 – Reducing inequalities
- Target 10.1 – By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 – Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 – By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 – Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
- The objective of the Single Registry is to be a source of information to federal social policies and programs directed to the low-income segments of the Brazilian population.
- The Single Registry has specific strategies to include the traditional and specific population groups. Together with states and municipalities, the national coordination of the Single Registry promotes initiatives of “active search” of people and families of these groups that historically face difficulties in accessing the public equipments and services.
- The Single Registry has specific procedures for the registration of Traditional and Specific Groups (GPTE). Among these groups there are the following categories:
- Ethnic groups, comprehending indigenous populations, quilombo communities, gypsies and Afro-American religious communities;
- Environmental groups, comprehending extractivists, artisanal fishermen and communities at river’s margins;
- Rural groups, like family farmers, agrarian reform settlers, camped groups and beneficiaries of the National Program of Land Credit (PNCF);
- Situational groups, like people affected by infrastructure enterprises, inmates in the prison system, gatherers of recyclable materials and homeless population.
- The federal government provides resources and technical assistance to states and municipalities for actions to include the members of these groups in the Single Registry, as this enables them to have access to initiatives in all three levels of government.
- Around 40 federal programs and several state and municipal programs use the Single Registry to select their target groups and for monitoring/evaluation. The Single Registry is used as source of data about the vulnerable population by other initiatives of the federal government.
The main lessons are the need of continuous investment in the modernization of the system of the Single Registry and the importance of being aware of the impact of the user program’s design in the quality of the data of the Single Registry.
Conditional cash transfer (CCT); Emergency cash transfers in fragile and humanitarian contexts; Environmentally conditioned cash transfer (ECCT); Institutional markets, including public procurement and pro-poor food pricing; Disability benefits; Social care services; Digital transformation of social protection information systems; Unconditional cash transfer
- Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA)
- Secretariat for Evaluation, Information Management and Single Registry (SAGICAD) at the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger (MDS)
- Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)
- National School of Public Administration (ENAP)
The Single Registry operates with a network of decentralized and intersectoral management that involves the federal government, states and municipalities.The discussion of the issues related to the Single Registry happens in the forums of political negotiation and social participation of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS).
There are 42.025.329 families and 96.781.810 persons in the Single Registry in April 2024. The average number of persons per family is 2.30.
The budget of the Single Registry in 2024 is R$ 96.683.129, 00 (U$ 18,883. 423.- U$ 5,12).
There is a set of informational tools to disseminate the information of the Single Registry:
Observatório do Cadastro Único (Single Registry’s Observatory) – interactive panel to improve the use of the Single Registry’s data. Aims to promote the use of the Single Registry’s data in the diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation of social policies and programs. Target group: professionals of the decentralized management network of the Single System of Social Assistance – SUAS.
CECAD 2.0 – Tabulator, aggregated data and extractor of microdata from the Single Registry. Presents aggregated data of the Single Registry, in graphs with historical perspective, profile of registered persons and families, statistics of data qualification processes, among others. The data can be accessed in national, state, district and municipal levels. Includes functionalities as the TABCAD, which permits crossing of the Single Registry’s variables, and shows historical series, frequencies and panels of the Single Registry.
Monitora MDS (Monitoring MDS) – presents indicators of the programs of the Institutional Strategic Planning of MDS, improving transparency and communication about the main results and deliveries of the institution.
Bolsa Família e Cadastro Único no Município (Family Grant and Single Registry in the municipalities) – allows the generation of complete reports of Family Grant and Single Registry at the municipal level. Presents panels of indications and informational material of Family Grant and Single Registry. Presents data to support the municipal management.
Relatório de Informações (Informational Report) – presents synthetic data of the main initiatives of MDS. Provides data of population profile and several types of reports. Data on national, state, district and municipal levels and on special areas.
Visdata – allows visualization of disaggregated data of MDS’s social programs. Present indicators, historical series, customizable maps and allows the download of data bases. Data on national, state, district and municipal levels and on special and customizable areas. Centralizes the MDS’s data about its programs.
MOPS – allows access to georeferenced information about the availability of services, public equipments, social programs and data from the Single Registry. Allows the visualization of the location and contact information of public equipments. Allows the generation of social and territorial reports based on the information from the Single Registry and Demographic Census and the production of personalized cartograms.
Documenta Wiki – source of information about the MDS’s policies, programs and services and about indicators and the data bases used to calculate them.