Agência Brasil*
Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5.4% in 2007. Total value was 2.6 trillion reals (US$ 1.5 trillion) according to information from the Quarterly National Accounts of the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which are being disclosed today (12th).
The result is the highest since 2004, when the GDP, i.e. the sum of all wealth produced in the country, grew 5.7%. The growth rate confirms the expectation of the minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, that the economy would grow at a rate above 5%.
From the third to the fourth quarter last year, the GDP grew 1.6%. According to the IBGE, in 2007 agriculture (5.3%) performed best, followed by industry (4.9%) and services (4.7%).
The growth of agriculture was mostly driven by the crop, the highlights being wheat (62.3%), vegetable cotton (33.5%), maize beans (20.9%), sugarcane (13,2%) and soy (11.1%). The products that saw a reduction in the crop were coffee beans (-16.7%), rough rice (-3.7%) and beans (-4.4%).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
