Dan Woodland
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Brazil's left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been re-elected for a fourth term after defeating right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro by more than 4 million votes.

It comes after a round of elections in which Bolsonaro came in first but neither candidate secured a majority. This triggered a run-off - more on Brazil's electoral process here.

Lula's victory is the first time since Brazil's return to democracy in 1988 that a candidate who lost the first round has gone on to win the presidency - here's some key numbers behind his reversal in fortune.

How did he do it? A WhatsApp channel, which attracted 10.8 million supporters, and policy interventions have been credited as playing a crucial role in Lula's win.

Bolsonaro is refusing to accept the result and says the election should be annulled after the Supreme Court extended voting by two hours - despite both sides having asked for extensions to voting hours before polls closed.

From Brasília, the BBC's Ione Wells writes, Bolsonaro's challenge is unlikely to succeed given there was a substantive and definitive margin of defeat.

Brazilians in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are split on the result, with one voter saying she is "overjoyed" with the result, while another believes "Brazil deserved something better" and the country will now "be stuck for four years" with a right wing congress.

That is among the challenges Lula will face, in addition to the task of uniting such a deeply polarised country, which may see these next four years more difficult than his three previous terms in office.

We're ending our live coverage here, but you can read more in our news story.

Lula faces a challenging political landscape in his fourth termpublished at 16:54 GMT

16:54 GMT

Rogerio Wassermann
BBC Brasil

Image source, Reuters

Lula has received the highest ever vote count for a presidential candidate in Brazil and secured a fourth term, but he now faces what may be the most challenging political landscape of his time in power.

The country remains deeply divided. Lula won 51.8% of the vote, compared with 48.2% for his right-wing opponent Flávio Bolsonaro. And the newly elected Congress is also the most conservative since Brazil's return to democracy in the mid-1980s.

Bolsonaro's party, the PL, will be the largest force in both chambers. The president will need to negotiate with multiple parties to secure approval for his proposals.

And news of Lula's re-election has triggered a negative market reaction.

He has often had a tense relationship with financial markets, and critics accuse him of fiscal irresponsibility and of allowing Brazil's public debt to rise.

Lula, however, blames the high interest rates set by the independent central bank and has resisted spending cuts, particularly for social programmes.

There are also challenges on the international stage. During the campaign, Lula clashed with Donald Trump and accused the US president of interfering in the election in favour of Bolsonaro.

He also accused major technology companies of favouring his opponent and renewed his pledge to regulate the sector, a longstanding promise that he has never managed to deliver.

Branca Lessa de Sa
Reporting from Brasília

Things feel pretty normal on the streets of Brasília today.

We have come to the presidential palace - one of the government buildings that was stormed by Jair Bolsonaro supporters in 2023.

Those images, capturing thousands of supporters of the former president ransacking government buildings - remain very much alive in people’s memories here - and have caused concern about what might happen this time, with Flávio Bolsonaro refusing to concede defeat.

But today, the atmosphere here is mostly calm, with just a few members of the press outside.

However, at one point a driver in a car, which has a massive sticker of Flávio Bolsonaro’s face stuck on its side, rolls down his window as he drives past and shouts: “Lula will fall!”.

With Bolsonaro and many of his allies questioning the results of the election, apprehension remains about what could happen next.

Madeleine Lake
Live reporter

Image source, Vanessa Novello

Norma, a 79-year-old grandmother, has just spent a week in hospital after having a stroke. Her first question to her granddaughter Vanessa after leaving the hospital was: "are you going to take me to vote on the 25th?"

Vanessa lives nearby with her fiancée Julia. She says despite voting in different neighbourhoods to her grandmother, they go together.

"Elderly people all over the country heard the same call, many overcame their difficulties because they know every single vote counts and understood they would be fundamental to help Brazil maintain its democratic character, even if they might not be here for long enough to see it," she tells me.

Image source, Vanessa Novello

Vanessa says she and Norma voted for Lula because he's "experienced" and will "care for all of us equally as he has done before."

"He thinks of Brazil the way we do - a tremendous nation, capable of leading our fellow countries in the south hemisphere into a world where we negotiate as equals with developed countries instead of being told what to do."

Despite suffering from health complications, Norma says "while we're still alive, we should vote until the end of our lives for our country!"

"I'm proud of my girls for helping me [Julia and Vanessa], my two granddaughters, and thank you God we won, I'm very happy. I am very proud to vote," she adds.

Markets don’t like shocks. This was a big onepublished at 16:24 GMT

16:24 GMT

Mitch Labiak
Business reporter

The market reaction to Brazilian President Lula’s win has been almost as dramatic as the election itself.

The BOVESPA index of the largest publicly traded firms listed in Brazil plunged following the news before recovering slightly. It is currently down over 14% over the day’s trading.

There are a couple of things happening here.

First, the win was a surprise - and markets do not tend to like those.

Traders had been pricing in victory for Lula’s right-wing rival Flávio Bolsonaro, who had promised spending cuts, red tape slashing, and other business-friendly policies while wielding a giant pair of prop scissors to drive home his point.

Experts had questioned the seriousness of this, but the market reaction seemed positive nonetheless, with the BOVESPA rising as his win looked more likely. His unexpected loss has more than reversed those gains.

As well as being caught off guard, markets may also be reacting to Lula’s policies and pledges while campaigning. He has made large spending announcements and has seemed dismissive of Brazil’s government debt levels.

The BOVESPA is a fifth higher than this time last year - following cuts to Brazilian interest rates and its oil-producing economy being somewhat shielded from the economic fallout of the US-Israel war with Iran - but the concerns about public debt are a long-term issue that Lula and future presidents will need to reckon with.

Julia Braun, Rute Pina & Luiz Fernando Toledo
BBC Brasil

Social media has played a central role in Brazilian politics since Jair Bolsonaro's 2018 election victory, when WhatsApp networks became a defining feature of political campaigning.

But for years, conservatives had been widely seen as dominating online political mobilisation there and on similar platforms.

Now, some Lula allies are crediting his comeback from second in the first round against Jair's son Flávio Bolsonaro, to winning in the second round, to the WhatsApp channel Lula's Army, which stepped up its efforts and grew dramatically between the two polls.

Led by congressman André Janones, it grew to 10.8 million followers, and was used to share videos, promote hashtags and recruit new voters.

Janones frequently instructed his "troops" to "blow up" the latest campaign video or help a new hashtag "take off".

"Guys, urgent!", "Don't go to sleep yet", "No food before the mission!" and "I have one more task before you're dismissed" were among the channel's calls to action.

Such was the importance to Lula's campaign, that in his victory speech the president referred to Janones as "our general" and thanked him for "raising the morale of our troops every day".

But while some of Lula's allies credit Lula's Army with helping fuel the comeback, analysts caution that it is impossible to determine how influential the WhatsApp operation was, and also point to a broader shift in campaign strategy after the first round that helped turn things around.

Malu Cursino
Live reporter

Arthur Alves works for his family’s civil construction firm in João Pessoa in the north-east of Brazil. The 27-year-old voted for Lula in 2022 and again yesterday, calling it “the best vote of his life”.

Alves voted for Lula because he believes the the left-wing president has “always worked to care for Brazilians as equals, to de-centralise resources and invest in the north-east".

Alves agrees with President Lula's social welfare policies and as a businessman in the region the decision was a no-brainer, he says.

Most in his industry support rival Flávio Bolsonaro, but Alves notes that several construction projects his company is involved in were made possible as a result of Lula's leadership and investment in the region.

Alves recognises the 80-year-old's fourth term as Brazil's leader won't be without its hurdles, though, as Lula faces the most right-wing Congress in Brazil's democratic era.

But Alves is looking forward to seeing investment in the north-east go beyond the primary sector - including the construction of Latin America's first quantum computer in his city. The investment, Alves adds, will bring researchers and investors to the region.

Image source, Arthur Alves

Lula's victory a blow to Trump's efforts to expand influence in South Americapublished at 15:28 GMT

15:28 GMT

Luis Barrucho
BBC Brasil

Image source, Reuters

For much of US President Donald Trump's second term, a series of right-wing electoral victories across South America appeared to be strengthening the US's influence in the region.

But Lula's victory has interrupted that trend and dealt a blow to Trump's efforts to expand US influence on the continent.

There were hopes in Washington that Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, might move closer to US priorities on security, critical minerals and competition with China.

But in his victory speech, Lula signalled that Brazil would pursue an independent course in foreign affairs.

He told supporters that Brazil "does not accept being anyone's backyard".

Lula also defended a more assertive approach to large technology companies, accusing digital platforms of trying to influence the election and saying Brazil could not allow "monstrous companies" to earn billions while paying little tax.

However, despite clear ideological differences, the relationship between the two leaders may not be as confrontational as some observers expect, according to Christopher Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at the Chatham House think tank.

"Trump hates losers. But he recognises people who have game, who have charisma, who are winners," he says, adding that could encourage a more pragmatic approach from both sides.

Trump has not publicly reacted to the election result so far.

Image source, AFP

There has been a mixed reaction from Brazilians in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro following last night's tight election results. Some have been speaking to AFP news agency to share their thoughts:

Maira de Mello Cabral e Matos, 42, is among those celebrating and says she is "overjoyed" with the result, adding that the Bolsonaro family posed "a very serious threat".

"I already thought we were going to win because of the strength of the popular mobilisation and I think that made history. Let's keep going," she tells the agency.

Felipe Nazario, 38, a businessman in Sao Paulo, is less enthused. He didn't like the results, saying "Brazil deserved something better" and the country will now "be stuck for four years" with a right wing congress.

Paulo Oliveira, 45, is also unhappy with the outcome of the election, claiming "what was really in the ballot boxes" was not "fair" and "those results were manipulated".

But pharmicist Camila Fernanda da Silveira, 26, thinks otherwise and says "there's nothing to dispute".

"We have one of the best election systems in the world, which is voting by electronic ballot box, so there's nothing to contest, it's a democracy," she adds.

Daniel Gallas
BBC Brasil

While several factors help explain Lula's win, much of the credit has been attributed to an aggressive social media operation.

Central to that effort was the "Army of Lula", a WhatsApp channel organised by a supporter that attracted 10.8 million subscribers.

Followers were given daily "missions", including promoting Lula's record and challenging claims made by Bolsonaro's campaign. The campaign helped Lula's supporters regain ground on social media, an arena where Bolsonaro's allies had enjoyed a clear advantage during the first round.

There were also significant policy interventions after Lula's first round setback.

The government banned online sports betting, increased the value of family cash-transfer payments and launched a debt-relief programme aimed at indebted households.

The relative importance of each of these factors is still unknown. But together they appear to have shifted the electoral landscape dramatically.

Lula won in more than 200 municipalities where he had lost just 21 days earlier.

He carried Minas Gerais, Brazil's second most populous state and a traditional bellwether in presidential elections. He also managed to reverse the result in the city of Rio de Janeiro, long considered one of the Bolsonaro family's political strongholds.

Image source, Reuters

Brazil's incumbent left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defeated his right-wing rival Flávio Bolsonaro, overturning a defeat earlier in the electoral process.

How did this happen?

In Brazil, the president is elected by a simple majority, so in the first round of votes a candidate needs to win more than 50% of the valid vote.

But if this doesn't happen, then the top two face each other in what is called a run-off.

On 4 October, Bolsonaro won the first round of Brazil's presidential election with 47%, beating Lula at 45%. As Bolsonaro fell short of an outright majority, a run-off was triggered between the two candidates.

Since 1989, every first round winner has gone on to be elected president.

So, when Lula won in the second round - with 51.79% compared to Bolsonaro's 48.21% - his victory came as a huge surprise, making the first time since Brazil's return to democracy that a candidate who lost the first round managed to overturn the result and win the presidency.

Bolsonaro said it was "impossible to recognise" the result, and called for an annulment of the election.

He said that "the rules of the game were changed", referring to the decision by the Supreme Court to extend voting by two hours, which happened after a request from both campaigns - we explained more in our earlier post.

Branca Lessa de Sa
Reporting from Brasília

Prominent figures from the right in Brazil, closely allied with Flávio Bolsonaro, have been posting on social media contesting the election result.

Silas Malafaia is a conservative evangelical pastor with millions of followers online. He is close to the Bolsonaros and had been campaigning for Flávio ahead of the run-off.

Last night, he posted an angry message to his Instagram saying that Lula had in fact “lost the election”, and was trying to win through “legal manoeuvring”. He added: “What is happening in Brazil is shameful.”

Meanwhile, Nikolas Ferreira, a 30-year old congressman who has also been crucial in Bolsonaro's campaign, posted a picture of Bolsonaro writing “until things are cleared up, Lula is not my president”. In an earlier post he had said “Brazil will not concede”.

The language from both Bolsonaro and some of his prominent supporters - who have millions of followers online - has raised concerns about potential unrest following Lula’s victory last night.

Bolsonaro's challenge is unlikely to succeedpublished at 13:14 GMT

13:14 GMT

Ione Wells
Reporting from Brasília

It's not a surprise to close watchers of Brazilian politics that Flávio Bolsonaro has rejected this result. His father did the same, so his party has form for this. But his challenge is unlikely to succeed. Firstly, the challenge seems to centre on the decision by the Supreme Court justice Cristiano Zanin to extend voting hours nationwide by two hours.

Some Bolsonaro fans are pointing out that Zanin was once Lula’s lawyer and alleging bias. But while Lula's party requested extensions in some states due to public transport issues, Bolsonaro’s own campaign petitioned the court for extensions in 17 municipalities too.

Both knew every vote would count and didn’t want their side missing out.

There is undeniably frustration that some polling stations had already closed. But the president of the Supreme Electoral Court Kassio Nunes Marques – who was appointed by Flávio’s father Bolsonaro, so is hardly a Lula ally – confirmed the victory and said that the voter extension did not change the outcome of the race.

There was a substantive and definitive margin of defeat, and Bolsonaro's team announced this challenge without providing concrete evidence of any irregularities.

Daniel Gallas
BBC Brasil

Earlier this month, Brazilians went to the polls and gave Flavio Bolsonaro a first-round lead of 2.2 million votes over Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

But three weeks later, Lula won the presidency by a margin of four million votes. The scale of the turnaround was remarkable. Between the two rounds, Lula gained around 11 million additional votes.

So, how did he do it? Three factors help explain:

• First, turnout increased. More than 2.3 million additional voters cast ballots in the second round compared with the first
• Second, Lula appears to have won over many voters who either abstained or declined to back a candidate in the first round. The number of blank and spoilt ballots fell by about 1.8 million
• Third, he succeeded in persuading some voters who had previously backed Flavio Bolsonaro or other candidates to switch sides

Ione Wells
Reporting from Brasília

Image source, Reuters

Things felt tense here in the capital, Brasilia, after the results came in and Flavio Bolsonaro rejected the result.

There are concerns about whether this could trigger unrest with his supporters. Many remember the scenes of his father Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters storming government buildings and the Supreme Court here ahead of Lula’s 2023 inauguration after they did not recognise the last election result.

So far, things are calm here.

And there are a few differences to 2022's result that suggest it would be harder to try something similar.

Firstly, I remember covering Bolsonaro senior's coup trial here last year and it was striking how much the evidence revealed about how he tried to use the machinery of the state – and senior figures within it – as president, to cling on to power. Because President Lula is the incumbent this time, Flavio Bolsonaro can't try that.

Secondly, this result was not as close as 2022, so it would be a lot harder to claim irregularities.

While Bolsonaro shares a lot of his father's traits, he has framed himself as the more "moderate" Bolsonaro, the "vaccinated" one even – so would he really go there? He has seen the consequences such rhetoric and actions had for his father.

How the next few days play out will be key.

Ione Wells
Reporting from Brasília

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

To give you a sense of how social media mobilised Lula's base ahead of the second round – one WhatsApp group that translates as "Lula’s army" had nearly 11 million followers.

It was used in the build-up to the final vote to share information about his campaign, mobilise supporters to turn out, and share news and updates.

To give a sense of scale, about 124 million people voted for Lula or Bolsonaro in this election.

I met many supporters of Lula's in the last week at demonstrations who specifically mentioned this group, and the president himself said he'd never seen anything like the campaign that had happened in the last few weeks.

Madeleine Lake
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

The winner: Brazil's left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term in office, defeating his right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro.

What was the margin? Lula won 51.79% of the vote, while Bolsonaro had 48.21% - that's a difference of more than 4 million votes. It's also a historic bounce back after Lula lost the first round of voting.

The defeated candidate: Flávio Bolsonaro has not taken the loss lightly, he's called for the result to be annulled and said it was "impossible to recognise". For his supporters, it's been a devastating blow.

Lula's victory was far from certain: Lula was in second place at 45% during the first round on 4 October, while Bolsonaro was ahead at 47%. Lula went from second to first place in 211 municipalities between the two rounds.

Silence from Washington so far: there's been no word yet from US President Donald Trump after he said he would be watching the elections. Our Global affairs reporter Mimi Swaby explains that Bolsonaro had US backing

Stick with us as we bring you the voices from voters and analysis from our correspondents.

Left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated his right-wing rival Flávio Bolsonaro in the presidential election run-off overnight.

In the first round on 4 October, Bolsonaro had won with 47%, falling short of an outright majority and triggering the second round. In yesterday's voting, Lula came out on top with 51.79% as you can see from the graph below:

Lula won in just under half of the 27 Brazilian states:

Image source, Getty Images

Born into a poor family in 1945, Lula sold peanuts as a child, only learning to read aged 10.

He became a metal worker in his teens, losing a finger in an industrial accident in the 1960s.

His political journey started in the trade union movement, where he was elected head of Metalworkers' Union in 1975. Five years later, he founded the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores or PT) - Brazil's first major socialist party.

It took him more than two decades to win the presidency, which he first did in 2002.

Lula made social equality a central plank of his early premiership, funnelling billions into grant programmes like the Bolsa Familia.

He was jailed in 2018 following a huge bribery scandal, dubbed Operation Car Wash, and served more than 18 months.

His convictions were overturned by a Supreme Court Judge in 2021, allowing him to run for and secure a third term as president in 2022.

Image source, Getty Images

Social media has played a significant role in Brazil's presidential elections.

On Tuesday, Meta's oversight board, external said it had found "enforcement failures" in the moderation of content relating to Brazil's presidential election.

The statement followed allegations by President Lula's campaign team, which says the company – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – had favoured Bolsonaro.

The oversight board found Meta had excessively used anti-fraud policies against Lula's ad accounts. The failure, the body says, "should have been escalated to an internal team of expert reviewers".

Meta has rejected claims of political bias.