São Paulo – Brazil eked out gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.1% in the third quarter, data from government statistics agency IBGE showed. Services and industry grew by 0.6% each, while the agricultural sector posted a contraction of 3.3% from the second quarter. (Pictured, soybean plantation.)
According to the data from IBGE, family consumption grew by 1.1% in Q3 quarter on quarter, while government spending ramped up 0.5%. Goods and services exports grew by 3%, while imports shrank by 2.1% in Q3 from Q2. Q1 2023 had seen the GDP grow by 1.4%, while in Q2 it grew 1%.
Year on year, the GDP grew by 2%, while year to date it went up 3.2% compared to a year ago.
IBGE national accounts coordinator Rebeca Palis was quoted as saying in a statement that the agricultural GDP slowdown was to be expected as soybean harvest and exports take place in the first half of the year. The commodity has great weight to the sector.
IBGE posted a 2.5% decrease in investments, which Palis credits to the interest rate. “This results from a contractionary monetary policy, with construction and capital goods production and imports declining. All factors that weigh the most in investments declined in the quarter,” she said. In current values, the GDP in Q3 reached BRL 2.741 trillion (USD 556.68 billion).
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
