This list of municipalities in Pernambuco by population is based on the 2021 estimate from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (portuguese: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística; IBGE). Pernambuco is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, and is divided into 185 municipalities. The Pernambuco territory is equivalent to 1.15% of the Brazilian territory and with more than 9.67 million inhabitants (4.55% of the Brazilian population), the state has the nineteenth largest territorial area and the seventh largest population among the states of Brazil. .
The most populous city in Pernambuco is Recife, the state capital, with 1,661,017 inhabitants. Then comes Jaboatão dos Guararapes with approximately 711,330 inhabitants.
Recife, the capital and most populous city of Pernambuco.Jaboatão dos Guararapes, located in the Recife metropolitan area, south of the capital, is the second most populous city in Pernambuco.Olinda, also located in the Recife metropolitan area, north of the capital, is the third most populous city in Pernambuco.Caruaru, known as the Capital of the Agreste, it is the largest city in the interior and fourth largest in the state.Petrolina, located in the Sertão on the banks of the São Francisco River, is the second largest city in the interior and fifth largest in Pernambuco.Garanhuns, known as the "City of Flowers", is the second municipality in the Agreste in terms of population, the third in the interior and the ninth in the state.Vitória de Santo Antão is the largest city in Zona da Mata, the fourth in the interior and the tenth in Pernambuco.Belo Jardim, known as the "Land of Musicians", is the fifth municipality in the Agreste in terms of population.