São Paulo – The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the G20, a group comprising the world’s largest economies, grew by 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011. According to information disclosed this Wednesday (14th) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the growth rate was lower than in the third quarter (0.9%) and the fourth quarter of 2010 (3.3%). Throughout the year, the bloc’s countries grew by an average of 2.8%. In 2010, the rate was 5%.
There was an increase in the GDP growth rate of the United States, from 0.5% in the third quarter to 0.7% in the fourth, as well as those of India (1.8%), Indonesia (2.0%), China (2.0%), Australia (0.4%), Canada (0.4%), Brazil (0.3%), France (0.2%), Korea (0.4%), Mexico (0.4%) and South Africa (0.8%). To the Fund, India and Indonesia have grown “strongly,” however China’s GDP growth rate has “slowed down,” from 2.3% in the third quarter to 2.0% in the fourth.
The GDP of Italy declined by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, it had dropped by 0.2%. Other countries whose GDPs decreased in the fourth quarter were Germany (-0.2%), Japan (-0.2%), United Kingdom (-0.2%) and European Union (-0.3%). The variations in the GDPs of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Russia and Turkey were not disclosed.
This was the first time that the G20’s GDP was disclosed. The information was collected by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and then passed on to the IMF. The bloc is comprised of 19 countries plus the European Union.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
