Alcohol — Brazil
What travelers need to know about alcohol in Brazil. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Alcohol in Brazil: restricted — there are real limits travelers must follow.
Alcohol is legal for adults in Brazil and the line is 18. Selling, supplying, serving, administering or handing over an alcoholic drink to a child or adolescent — anyone under 18 — is a federal crime, even when it is free and whatever the means, under art. 243 of the Child and Adolescent Statute (Lei 8.069/1990) in the wording given by Lei 13.106/2015. Since Lei 15.234 of 2025 the sentence is raised where the child or adolescent actually uses or consumes what was supplied. This offence is about supplying a minor; it does not itself regulate where an adult may drink in public.
Lei 8.069/1990 (ECA), art. 243: detention of 2 to 4 years and a fine, if the act does not amount to a more serious crime. Sole paragraph, added by Lei 15.234 of 2025: the penalty is increased by one third up to one half if the child or adolescent uses or consumes the product.
§ Presidência da República, Casa Civil (Brazil) — Lei 8.069 de 13 de julho de 1990, Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente, compiled text, art. 243 in the wording given by Lei 13.106/2015, sole paragraph added by Lei 15.234/2025 (last printed wording of the article, per the Redação dada markers)Verified Oct 6, 2026