For every R$1 invested in projects executed with resources from the Rouanet Law, R$7.59 returned to the economy. This is what a study presented by Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) this Tuesday (13) shows on the impacts of the culture incentive law. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture.
Between 2022 and 2024, the number of projects supported by the law increased from 2,600 to more than 14 thousand per year.
The study also evaluated leased equipment, number of people hired, materials and paid suppliers. In 2024, around 230,000 vacancies were opened with support from the program, at a cost of R$12,300 per vacancy.
“We needed complete, consistent and reliable data on the Rouanet Law, which in recent years has faced unjustifiable criticism and an attempt at demonization. On the one hand, there are those who try to delegitimize the cultural sector and there is still a portion of society that is unaware of its role. Robust and up-to-date data was lacking, and that is exactly why we commissioned this research. What we present today is a study of the highest quality, conducted with methodological rigor and based on official data. Its results offer clear evidence of the positive impact of cultural investment”, highlighted the Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes.
Rouanet has had more than R$60 billion invested since its creation in 1993, in unadjusted amounts. In 2024, there were 4,939 projects with resources executed, the majority proposed by companies (3,154 proponents or 86.7%).
The projects generated a total of 567 thousand payments to all types of suppliers and services, in a universe of 1,800 different types.
The majority (76.72%) raised up to R$1 million and 21.70% raised up to R$10 million. The largest amount of resources went to logistical, administrative and technical team costs, with a third going towards paying artists.
According to the researchers, 96.9% of payments via Rouanet are for less than R$25,000, which generates a distributive effect on income.
Regions
Of the R$ 25.7 billion movements through cultural incentive mechanisms in 2024most of it went to projects in the Southeast, which raised R$18 billion.
In the South Region, it was R$4.5 billion; Northeast, raised R$ 1.92 billion; Central-West, around R$400 million; and North, around R$360 million.
The survey also showed that Rouanet has the potential to raise funds outside the public notice, as the projects raised more than R$500 million from other sources and around R$300 million in non-financial support, in the same period.
“We had to understand the different types of impacts. Direct, indirect, which involve the entire related economic chain and the impact of jobs generated. The resource should not be thought of just once, but in waves of related expenses”, explained Luiz Gustavo Barbosa, executive manager at FGV.
The data also shows a drop in project analysis time, which went from more than 100 days in 2022 to 35 days in 2025.
When comparing projects from 2018 to 2024, the Northeast Region grew by more than 400%, going from 337 projects in 2018 to 1,778 in 2024.
The North Region also had similar growth, going from 125 projects to 635. The region with the lowest growth, the Southeast, doubled the number of projects, going from 3,414 (2018) to 7,617 (2024), which, in turn, was the biggest growth in absolute numbers.
The Central West saw growth of 245.4%, going from 240 to 829 projects, and the South grew 165.1%, going from 1,268 to 3,362 projects.
“Our effort is focusing on medium-sized companies, which are based in these territories, in their own territories”, said the Secretary of Cultural Promotion of the Ministry of Culture, Henilton Menezes, citing work in the Northeast, in partnership with Sesi, to qualify cultural producers in proposing projects and raising funds with companies.
The expectation is that the actions in the North Region will be felt as early as 2026, and those in the Central-West region in 2027.
The department must also carry out research focused on the Aldir Blanc Law, according to the minister. There is no scheduled date.
