2026 edition · Methodology v0.2 · 26 items

Overall ranking

Things that exist only in Brazil, or almost, ranked by the Jabuticaba Index®: from 0% (common worldwide) to 100% (exclusively Brazilian).

1. #1·Economy

   100%

   Precatórios (court-ordered government debt)

   When the State loses in court, it pays. Later. In a queue. With the option of paying in installments by constitutional amendment.

   Evidence DHidden jabuticabaFictional data

2. #2·Food

   97%

   Guaraná soda

   The country's second most-ordered soft drink, made from an Amazonian fruit that the rest of the world knows, if at all, as an energy supplement.

   Evidence AFictional data

3. #3·Home

   95%

   Three-pin plug (NBR 14136 standard)

   A plug standard that makes Brazilians buy adapters to plug in older Brazilian appliances.

   Evidence AFictional data

4. #4·Food

   94%

   Pão de queijo (cheese bread)

   Cassava starch, cheese and egg. Exported to bakeries around the world, which sell it as a gourmet novelty.

   Evidence AFictional data

5. #5·Nature

   94%

   Jabuticaba

   The fruit that gives the index its name and grows stuck to the tree trunk. The gold standard of Brazilianness, with some Paraguayan caveats.

   Evidence AFictional data

6. #6·Politics

   94%

   Paperless electronic voting machines (DRE without VVPAT)

   Fully electronic voting with no paper to recount. A technology Brazil adopted nationwide and few others wanted.

   Evidence AHidden jabuticabaFictional data

7. #7·Economy

   89%

   Tax ID on every receipt (CPF na nota)

   The question that ends every purchase in Brazil. In Portugal, they ask for your taxpayer number. Everywhere else, they ask if you want a bag.

   Evidence AHidden jabuticabaFictional data

8. #8·Urban

   89%

   Window safety nets

   Every apartment window with a cat or a child gets a net. Elsewhere, apparently, people trust gravity.

   Evidence BHidden jabuticabaFictional data

9. #9·Urban

   87%

   Separate social and service elevators in ordinary apartment buildings

   Two elevators: one for residents and guests, another for staff and deliveries. Architecture that needs no sociology, because the floor plan explains everything.

   Evidence AHidden jabuticabaFictional data

10. #10·Justice

    85%

    Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE)

    Um tribunal que organiza as eleições, regulamenta as eleições e julga as eleições. Três funções em um só prédio.

    Evidence CHidden jabuticabaOnly available in PortugueseFictional data

11. #11·Justice

    84%

    Priority line (fila preferencial)

    A separate line, guaranteed by law, in banks, supermarkets and government offices. Often longer than the regular line.

    Evidence AHidden jabuticabaFictional data

12. #12·Urban

    80%

    Farmácia em cada esquina

    Duas farmácias por quarteirão, às vezes da mesma rede, uma de frente para a outra.

    Evidence CHidden jabuticabaOnly available in PortugueseFictional data

13. #13·Culture

    80%

    Jeitinho brasileiro

    The art of getting around rules with charm. According to the methodology, it exists in many countries under other names. According to Brazilians, it does not.

    Evidence DFictional data

14. #14·Food

    77%

    Caipirinha

    Exported to bars around the world, where it is made with the precision of someone who has never seen a properly cut lime. In the index, exports count at half weight.

    Evidence BFictional data

15. #15·Urban

    77%

    Residential building doorman

    Receives packages, controls the entrance, knows everything about every resident. A job that in many countries became an intercom.

    Evidence AHidden jabuticabaFictional data

16. #16·Food

    76%

    Feijoada

    The unofficial national dish, with close relatives throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.

    Evidence BFictional data

17. #17·Home

    71%

    Electric shower

    Heats the water in the shower head itself, a few centimeters from the user's head. Considered perfectly normal by almost everyone who has ever showered in Brazil.

    Evidence BHidden jabuticabaFictional data

18. #18·Food

    68%

    Açaí bowl

    Açaí pulp blended and served cold with granola. In Pará it is eaten differently, and the index stays out of that argument.

    Evidence AFictional data

19. #19·Nature

    67%

    Capybara

    The world's largest rodent, Brazil's unofficial national mascot and, statistically, less Brazilian than you would think.

    Evidence AFictional data

20. #20·Nature

    66%

    Vira-lata caramelo

    Patrimônio afetivo nacional que, segundo os dados, é encontrado em qualquer lugar com cães soltos na rua.

    Evidence AOnly available in PortugueseFictional data

21. #21·Politics

    64%

    Horário eleitoral gratuito

    Rádio e TV interrompem a programação para exibir candidatos, de graça para eles. A faixa de incerteza desta medição é, reconhecidamente, generosa.

    Evidence COnly available in PortugueseFictional data

22. #22·Politics

    56%

    Mandatory voting

    Mandatory, with a symbolic fine. More common in the world than Brazilians tend to think.

    Evidence AFictional data

23. #23·Economy

    51%

    13th salary

    An extra month's pay at the end of the year, guaranteed by law. We regret to report that Portugal pays fourteen.

    Evidence BFictional data

24. #24·Culture

    38%

    Carnival

    Brazil did not invent Carnival, but it took it far too seriously. The index acknowledges the effort with a middling score.

    Evidence AFictional data

25. #25·Urban

    31%

    Motoboy (motorcycle courier)

    Motorcycle delivery rider. Sounds Brazilian, has an English name, and exists in almost all of the developing world.

    Evidence AFictional data

26. #26·Home

    0%

    Refrigerator (control group)

    Included as a control group. Exists everywhere, with the same intensity. Expected result: 0%. Actual result: 0%.

    Evidence AFictional data