OBJECTIVES The distribution of Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) in various Brazilian regions is not well understood. The public health and economic impact of Hepatitis B and its complications such as cirrhosis, and liver cancer in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) will give further insights of the importance of the disease in Brazil. DATASUS is a public administrative database maintained by MoH and can contribute to the study of HBV. METHODS HBV and its complications in the Brazilian SUS was evaluated in the public database DATASUS between 2000 to 2007. Data were tabulated according with different Brazilian states. RESULTS Mortality data indicate a peak of viral hepatitis and liver cirrhosis between 40 to 60 years old, followed by another mortality peak due to liver cancer between 60 to 80 years old, this pattern is found in the states studied. The average hospitalization time for liver-related disease is 9.16 days as compared with 5.83 days to all-causes hospitalizations. In some states, such as Minas Gerais and Federal District (Brasilia), a greater rate of Hospitalization authorizations (AIH) for liver-related diseases was observed compared to the rate for all-causes hospitalization. Lamivudine is the treatment of choice compared with interferon and others therapies, particularly after 2003 when lamivudine was included in the high cost list and made available for SUS. The costs for SUS is steadily increasing with liver transplant and immunosuppressive drugs in several states. For example, SUS expend R$4,560,00 with transplants and more than R$ 100,000,000 with immunosuppresion in 2006. CONCLUSIONS HBV and its complications exert a significant clinical and economic impact to the Brazilian Public Health System and suggest that existing therapies are inadequate to address the issue.