Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian economy grew 1.3% in the third quarter of the year compared with the previous quarter. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), i.e. the sum of all wealth produced in the country, totalled 797 billion reals (US$ 452 billion) during the period, according to data disclosed today (10th) by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The result is lower than estimated yesterday (9th) by the minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, who stated that there should be growth of 2% during the period.
The greatest increase was recorded in the industrial sector, with growth of 2.9%, followed by the services sector, which increased by 1.6%. Agriculture activity had a decrease of 2.5%.
In comparison with the same period of 2008, the GDP decreased by 1.2%. Over the same period of comparison, services had the best performance, with growth of 2.1%, whereas agriculture decreased by 9% and industry, by 6.9%.
Over the same period, family consumption grew 3.9%, for the 24th consecutive growth period. One of the factors that contributed to the result was the actual wage bill, which grew 2.5% in the third quarter of 2009, with increases in employment rate and average income from labour.
Government consumption expenditures grew 1.6% compared with the third quarter of 2008 and investment (gross fixed capital formation) decreased by 12.5%.
In the year-to-date result, the sum of all wealth produced in the country decreased by 1.7% in comparison with the same period of last year.
The IBGE also disclosed revised data concerning the second quarter of this year. According to the revised figures, from April to June, the economy grew 1.1% compared with the previous quarter (initially, the growth was estimated at 1.9%), after having decreased by 0.9% from January to March (at first, the estimated reduction rate had been 0.8%).
In comparison with the second quarter of 2008, the new reading points to a decrease of 1.6%, as opposed to 1.2% according to previous calculations. The revision of data is conducted by the IBGE based on information from later surveys, also conducted by the institute.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
