The country’s competition authority estimates its enforcement and merger reviews generated significant gains for society last year.
Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) said on Wednesday it had produced an estimated 22.7 billion reais ($4.3 billion) in benefits through its work in 2025, according to a newly released study.
The report attributes the gains to investigations into anti-competitive conduct and the review of mergers and acquisitions. It also found that average annual benefits over 2023–2025 reached 16 billion reais, underscoring CADE’s role in promoting fairer and more competitive markets.
Unilateral conduct cases accounted for the largest share of estimated benefits at around 20 billion reais, followed by cartel cases at roughly 1.4 billion reais and merger reviews at about 1.3 billion reais. The cases spanned sectors including mobile apps, offshore foreign exchange, infrastructure services, fuel distribution, pharmaceutical inputs and pet products.
CADE said its tribunal imposed 301 million reais in fines in 2025 and secured an additional 390 million reais through settlement agreements, bringing the total to 691 million reais.
The study notes that the estimates are conservative, as they do not include broader deterrent effects or the long-term impact of competition advocacy efforts.
Source: Gov.br
