Number of Inhabitants

According to IBGE, population in the city of São Paulo is 10.886.518 inhabitants. If considering metropolitan area, that is including 38 cities around the capital, population is almost 19,000,000 inhabitants.

General Data

• Foundation of the city: January 25, 1554
• Location: Southeastern region
• Distance from the coast:
  Costa dos Alcatrazes – São Sebastião – 186 km
  Guarujá – 93 km
  Ilhabela – 204 km
  Santos – 72 km
• Air humidity: 78% (annual average)
• Climate: Tropical temperate
• Average annual temperature: 19°C
• Extension: 1.530 km² 
• Altitude: an average of 760 m. 
• Latitude: 23°32.0'S
• Longitude: 46°37.0'W
• Population - 10.886.518 inhabitants.
• Predominant Religion: Catholic
• Currency: REAL (R$)
• Time zone: GMT (-)3 hours

Hotels

• Main Brazilian and international hotel chains.
• 410 hotels
• 42,000 available rooms
• Average occupancy in hotels in 2007 was 67%
• Average room price in 2007 was R$ 160,024

Food

• 12,500 restaurants
• 52 types of cuisine

Culture and leisure

• 152 theaters
• 90 museums
• 260 rooms in 55 cinemas
• 39 cultural centers
• 4 theme parks
• 54 parks and green areas
• 7 concert halls
• 1 circuit race – location for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Brazil

Events

• South American capital of business trade fair 4
• More than 90,000 events per year
• 75% of the biggest trade fairs of the country
• R$ 2,4 billion of income/year
• R$ 8 billion in travel, lodging and land and air transport

Ranking of Events 2009

In total audience*
- Cultural Turn - 4 million (2009)
- GLBT Parade - 3.5 million (2009)
- New Year's Eve at Avenida Paulista - 2.4 million
- Book Biennial Event - 728 thousand
- Auto Show - 650 thousand
- International Art Biennial Event of Sao Paulo - 535 thousand
- Duas Rodas Hall - 240 thousand (2009)
- International Film Festival - 200 thousand (2009)
- Brazil GP of Formula 1 - 140 thousand
- Carnival (Sambadrome) - 110 thousand (2009)
-SP Fashion Week - 100 thousand (2009)
Hospital - 86 thousand (2009)
- Couromoda - 65 thousand (2009)
-Adventure Sports Fair – 61 thousand (2009)
- Francal – 55.7 thousand (2009)
- Indy - 50 thousand
- Equipotel – 50 thousand (2009)
- Fenatran – 48 thousand
* (Numbers informed by the organizers)

 In value exchanged by tourists*
- Brazil Grand Prix Formula 1 - R$ 230 million
- GLBT Parade - R$ 189 million
- Indy - R$ 126 million (forecast 2010)
- Auto Show - R$ 125.5 million
- International Art Biennial Event of Sao Paulo - R$ 120 million
- Francal – R$ 118 million
- Hospital - R$ 98.9 million
- Book Biennial Event - R$ 91.7 million
- Cultural Turn - R$ 90 million
- Couromoda – R$ 78.6 million
- Duas Rodas Hall - R$ 60 million
- New Year's Eve at Avenida Paulista - R$ 50 million
- Carnival - R$ 45 million
- International Film Festival - R$ 31.5 million
- Fenatran – R$ 30 million
- Adventure Sports Fair – R$ 20.4 million
- SP Fashion Week – R$ 15 million
- Equipotel – R$ 3.4 million
- Cultural Turn - R$ 90 million
- Couromoda – R$ 78.6 million
- Duas Rodas Hall - R$ 60 million
- New Year's Eve at Avenida Paulista - R$ 50 million
- Carnival - R$ 45 million
- International Film Festival - R$ 31.5 million
- Fenatran – R$ 30 million
- Adventure Sports Fair – R$ 20.4 million
- SP Fashion Week – R$ 15 million
- Equipotel – R$ 3.4 million
* (Calculations based on surveys conducted annually by SPTuris during events. The estimates are made with survey numbers of the previous year, with possible expected public variation disclosed by the organization). Data from recent editions of the event.
* (Calculations based on surveys conducted annually by SPTuris during events. The estimates are made with survey numbers of the previous year, with possible expected public variation disclosed by the organization). Data from recent editions of the event.

In numbers of tourists*
- GLBT Parade - 400 thousand
- Cultural Turn - 300 thousand
- Book Biennial Event - 240 thousand
- Auto Show - 200 thousand
- International Art Biennial Event of Sao Paulo - 107 thousand
- New Year's Eve at Avenida Paulista - 100 thousand
- Brazil GP of Formula 1 - 85 thousand
- Hospital - 46.9 thousand
- Couromoda – 42.9 thousand
- Francal – 42.5 thousand
- Duas Rodas Hall - 40 thousand
- Indy - 31 thousand (forecast 2010)
- International Film Festival - 30 thousand
- Carnival - 30 thousand
- Adventure Sports Fair – 21 thousand
- SP Fashion Week – 16 thousand
- Fenatran – 15 thousand
- Equipotel – 14.1 thousand
*(Includes visitors of the Countryside and Coast of the State of SP, other states and also overseas)

Consumption

• 24,000 shops
• 77 shopping malls
• 59 theme shopping streets in 51 different areas

Transport

• 33,000 taxis
• 10,000 city buses
• 800 bus lines
• 19 bus terminals
• 4 subway lines 
• 57,6 km of subway lines + 31,1 km under construction 
• 52 subway stations
• 270 km of train lines
• The second private jets fleet in the world
• 39 Airway companies
• 4 airports in Greater São Paulo*, including 1 in Campinas and 1 in Guarulhos

Tourism

• 11.7 million visitors in 2010, with 10.1 million domestic tourists and 1.6 million foreigners. The growth was 3.54% over 2009.
• 56.1% of tourists come to do business; 22.4% to attend events; 10.9% for leisure, 4.0% to study, 2.6% to visit relatives and friends, and 2.5% for related health subjects.

• The city receives 10 million visitors a year. At hotels, 16,4% are foreigners and 82,46% are Brazilians
• Foreigner tourists in São Paulo are divided in 38% from Europe, 30% from the USA and Canada, 21% from Mercosur, 7% from Latin America and 4% from Asia
• Almost 50% of tourists come to São Paulo for business, 39% for leisure and the others for a medical treatment, to take a course or to go to the university.
• Average staying in the city is 2 days
• Daily expenses: US$ 150,00
• 6 – CIT - Tourist Information Centers

Total spending on travel

Domestic tourists

- R$ 480.11 (Luxury Hotels), R$ 387.07 (Midscale Hotels) and R$ 120.38 (Budget Hotels)
- 32.5% with Clothing, 15.2% with Books; 7.6% with Perfumery, 7.3% with CD/DVD, 6.6% with Cell Phone, 6.2% with Toys; 5.8% with Electro-electronics, 4.6% with Jewelry and Fake Jewelry and Watches and Sunglasses and 1.9% for House Appliances
- They are mostly coming from Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia and Porto Alegre
- They stay 3.3 days with expenditures ranging between R$ 1,600 and R$ 3,500

International Tourists
- R$ 775.23 (Luxury Hotels), R$ 550.37 (Midscale Hotels) and R$ 380.18 (Budget Hotels)

- 31.7% with Clothing, 10.6% with Toys; 9.8% withPerfumery, 8.9% with Books, 8.1% with Cell Phone, 7.3% with CD/DVD; 4.9% with Watches and Sunglasses, 3.7% with Jewelry and Fake Jewelry and 2.8% for Electro-electronics and House Appliances

- They are mostly from the United States, Argentina, Spain and Italy

- They stay 5.3 days with expenditures ranging between R$ 2,000 and R$ 5,000

São Paulo is the headquarter of

• 38% of the 100 largest privately-owned companies with national capital
• 63% of the international groups installed in Brazil
• 17 of the 20 largest banks
• 8 of the top 10 brokerage firms
• 31 of the 50 largest insurers
• Approximately 100 of the 200 technology companies
• BOVESPA - the largest stock exchange in South America
• Futures and Commodities Exchange - BM&F, the sixth largest in the world in terms of turnover
• Hospital das Clínicas, the largest and most renowned hospital complex in Latin America
• The largest mall in Latin America - the Centro Comercial Aricanduva, with 500 stores
• Among the 7 most popular Internet portals, 6 are based in Sao Paulo
• 1769 health facilities, 40 public hospitals, 61 private hospitals, 24,957 hospital beds, 99 mobile Military Police bases, 93 police stations, 04 Poupatempo stations, 146 colleges, 26 universities
• 22 Technology Education Centers
• The largest GLBT Pride Parade in the world
• The São Silvestre Race, which attracts on average 15,000 runners from around the world from about 20 countries.

Business

• 38% of the 100 major private companies with national capital
• 63% of international groups in Brazil
• 17 out of 20 major banks
• Almost 100 out of 200 technology companies
• BM&FBOVESPA – the most important stock exchange in South America
• Hospital das Clínicas – the largest and most famous complex
• The largest Gay Parade in the world with more than 3,5 million people

Sources: (1) Editora Abril (2) PMSP (3) São Paulo Turismo (4) Ubrafe (5) Governo do Estado de São Paulo (6) Infraero (7) Fohb (8) São Paulo Convention & Visitors Bureau (9) Revista Latin Trade (10) IBGE (11) MEC (12) SEBRAE (13) Guia de Restaurantes Japoneses – Editora JBC (14) Site Guia de Motéis (15) Banco Central do Brasil (16) ADETAXI (17) Metrô.