São Paulo – Currently, 363,626 foreigners live in the city of São Paulo, from 196 different nationalities. From these, 7,097 were born in Arab countries, according to data from the National Foreigners Registration System (SINCRE) compiled by ANBA based in a list made public by the Observatory of Tourism and Events (OTE), a study and research center of São Paulo Turismo (SPTuris), company linked to São Paulo City Hall.
Among the Arab community in Latin America’s largest city, the Lebanese are the most numerous: 4,509 people were born in the Middle East country, which stands at the 16th position in the nationalities ranking – it slid three spots in comparison to the previous study from 2015. At that time, 6,672 Lebanese lived in São Paulo.
The Lebanese were surpassed by citizens from Haiti, Paraguay and Peru. The first country didn’t even show up in the previous survey and now holds the eighth position with over 14,000 citizens living in São Paulo.
The survey does not include descendants, only foreign-born immigrants with permanent visas for Brazil. According to SPTuris, making the numbers public helps encourage tourism in the city.
The Portuguese community remains São Paulo’s biggest at 70,711 residents, although it diminished significantly since the last survey: in 2015, over 100,000 Portuguese-born persons used to live in the city. Bolivia, at 58,195 residents, Japan, at 33,288, China, at 25,420, and Italy at 22,272 people are the other countries in the top-five list.
After Lebanon’s, the second biggest Arab community in São Paulo is Syria’s, at 1,583 residents. Syria ranks 23rd overall. Next come Egypt at 298 residents, Morocco at 170, and Jordan at 143.
See the full list of Arabs in São Paulo.
Lebanon – 4,509
Syria – 1,583
Egypt – 298
Morocco – 170
Jordan – 143
Palestine – 128
Iraq – 117
Algeria – 32
Tunisia – 30
Saudi Arabia – 22
Yemen – 21
Sudan – 20
Libya – 14
Kuwait – 5
United Arab Emirates – 3
Mauritania – 1
Somalia – 1
Total: 7,097
Source: National Foreigners Registration System (SINCRE)
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani & Gabriel Pomerancblum
