What is the structure of a Brazilian phone number?

A Brazilian number in E.164 form is +55 followed by 10 or 11 national digits. The first two national digits are the DDD (Discagem Direta a Distância — the area code, assigned by ANATEL). The remaining digits are the subscriber number: 9 digits for mobiles and 8 digits for landlines. Mobile numbers also carry the nationwide "nono dígito" (9th digit) rule, which means the subscriber portion always starts with 9. Landline subscriber numbers start with 2, 3, 4, or 5.

What is the nono dígito and why was it introduced?

The nono dígito (literally "ninth digit") was a nationwide change mandated by ANATEL to cope with the explosive growth of mobile subscribers in Brazil. Before the change, mobile numbers in most DDDs had 8 subscriber digits (same as landlines). From 2012 to 2016 ANATEL rolled out the addition of a leading 9 to all mobile numbers, making them 9 subscriber digits long. The rule is now universal across all 67 DDDs. Any 11-digit national number that does not start with 9 after the DDD is structurally invalid under current ANATEL rules.

How do I tell if a Brazilian number is mobile or landline?

After the two-digit DDD, count the remaining digits. Nine digits means mobile — and the first of those nine must be 9. Eight digits means landline — and the first must be 2, 3, 4, or 5. Numbers starting with 0 after the DDD are special-service or error codes, not regular subscriber lines. This tool labels the line type automatically and explains the rule that was applied.

What are the valid DDDs in Brazil?

ANATEL has assigned 67 DDDs, covering every state. São Paulo state alone has nine (11-19). Rio de Janeiro state has three (21, 22, 24). Other examples: 31 for Greater Belo Horizonte, 41 for Greater Curitiba, 51 for Greater Porto Alegre, 61 for Brasília/DF, 71 for Greater Salvador, 81 for Greater Recife, 85 for Greater Fortaleza, 91 for Greater Belém, 92 for Greater Manaus, 98 for Greater São Luís. This tool validates against the complete current ANATEL list.

Does a structurally valid result mean the number is active?

No. Structural validation checks only that the number conforms to the official format — correct length, assigned DDD, and the right leading digit for mobile or landline. It cannot tell you whether the number is actually registered with a carrier, whether it has been ported, suspended, or disconnected. Only a carrier lookup (which requires a network call) can confirm live status. This tool never makes any network request.

Can I validate numbers with the +55 country code already included?

Yes. The validator automatically strips the +55 prefix (as well as 0055 and a bare leading 55 where unambiguous) before applying national-number rules. You can paste numbers from international directories, CRMs, or databases in any common format and the result will be the same.

Brazil Phone Number Validator

Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world by population, and its mobile market is one of the largest on the planet — with over 250 million active SIM cards. Every Brazilian subscriber number is governed by ANATEL (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações), the federal telecoms regulator, which assigns DDD area codes to regions and mandates the overall numbering structure. Validating a Brazilian phone number correctly requires checking three independent rules: the total digit count, the assigned DDD, and the correct leading digit depending on whether the line is mobile or landline.

This tool applies all three rules in real time, decodes the DDD to its state or region, labels the line type, and outputs both the international E.164 form and the conventional Brazilian local format. Everything runs in your browser — no number you enter is ever sent anywhere.

How Brazilian phone numbers are structured

A Brazilian national number contains either 10 digits (landline) or 11 digits (mobile). The first two digits are always the DDD — the Discagem Direta a Distância area code. ANATEL has assigned 67 DDDs, each tied to a specific metropolitan area or state region.

After the DDD comes the subscriber number:

Line type	Subscriber digits	First digit after DDD	Total national digits
Mobile (celular)	9	Must be 9	11
Landline (fixo)	8	Must be 2, 3, 4, or 5	10

In international E.164 format, Brazil’s country code +55 is prepended, making the full number 12 digits (landline) or 13 digits (mobile) including the plus sign.

The nono dígito rule explained

Before 2012, Brazilian mobile numbers had only 8 subscriber digits — the same length as landlines. As subscriber growth pushed some DDDs toward exhaustion, ANATEL introduced the nono dígito (ninth digit): a mandatory leading 9 is prepended to every mobile subscriber number. The rollout was completed across all DDDs by 2016, so today any valid Brazilian mobile number is always 11 national digits with the subscriber portion starting with 9.

The algorithm used here:

Strip the +55 prefix if present.
Take the first two digits as the DDD and look them up in the ANATEL table.
If 11 national digits remain, treat the line as mobile and verify the third digit is 9.
If 10 national digits remain, treat the line as landline and verify the third digit is in the set {2, 3, 4, 5}.
Reject all-zero subscriber portions and any digit outside the allowed ranges.

Worked example

Input: (11) 9 8765-4321

After stripping formatting: 11987654321 — 11 digits.

DDD: 11 → São Paulo capital region (ANATEL-assigned, valid).
Remaining subscriber: 987654321 — 9 digits, starts with 9.
Line type: mobile, nono dígito present.
Local format: (11) 9 8765-4321
E.164: +5511987654321

Input: 021 3456-7890

After stripping and recognising 0 as a dial-out prefix: national digits are 2134567890 — 10 digits.

DDD: 21 → Rio de Janeiro capital region (valid).
Remaining subscriber: 34567890 — 8 digits, starts with 3.
Line type: landline.
Local format: (21) 3456-7890
E.164: +552134567890

Privacy and limitations

Privacy: every calculation runs in JavaScript inside your browser tab. No number you enter is ever transmitted, logged, or stored.

Limitations: this tool verifies format and structure only. It cannot confirm whether a number is currently active, assigned to a real subscriber, ported to a different carrier, or reachable. Only a carrier-level HLR or number-portability lookup — which requires a live network query to a telco database — can confirm live status.