Rio de Janeiro – Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ended 2021 with a 4.6% growth, totaling BRL 8.7 trillion (about USD 1.7 trillion at the current rate). This advance recovered the losses of 2020 when the Brazilian economy shrank 3.9% due to the pandemic. The per capita GDP reached BRL 40,688 (about USD 8,060); a 3.9% increase relative to the previous year (-4.6%).
Data are from the System of Quarterly National Accounts, released this Friday (4) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). According to the survey, economic growth was driven by expansion in services (4.7%) and industry (4.5%). On the other hand, agriculture fell by 0.2%.
According to the coordinator of National Accounts at the IBGE, Rebeca Palis, all services activities thrived in 2021, particularly transport, storage, and shipping (11.4%). Passenger transport rose considerably, especially at the end of the year, with people returning to travel. Information and communications also increased (12.3%), driven by the internet and IT development.
According to the IBGE, in industry, the positive highlight was the performance of construction, which after falling 6.3% in 2020, advanced 9.7% in 2021. Investments rose 17.2%, favored by construction, which in the previous year had a decrease, and by the domestic production of capital goods.
Agriculture, which expanded in 2020, dropped 0.2% in 2021 due to drought and frost. “Despite the annual growth in soybean production (11.0%), important crops recorded a decline in estimated production and loss of productivity in 2021, such as sugarcane (-10.1%), maize (-15.0%), and coffee (-21.1%),” said Palis. In livestock, there was a reduction in cattle and milk production.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
