Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.3% in the first quarter of the year compared with the previous quarter, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, in the Portuguese acronym) informed this Friday (3rd).
The highlight, according to the IBGE, was agriculture, which grew at a rate of 3.3% in value-added volume. Next came the industrial sector, which grew by 2.2%, and services, which grew by 1.1%.
In comparison with the first quarter of 2010, the GDP increased by 4.2%. Using this basis of comparison, services were the economic activity that grew the most (4%). Industry grew by 3.5% and agriculture, by 3.1%.
The IBGE also informed that it has revised the growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with the previous three-month period. The rate disclosed previously was 0.7%, but the actual growth was 0.8%.
In agriculture, the production of soy (6.3%) and maize (3.0%) were the highlights in the comparison between the first quarter of 2011 and the last quarter of 2010.
In the industrial sector, the growth was driven by the processing industry (2.8%) and the civil construction industry (2.0%). AS for services, the IBGE pointed out that the highest increases were those of trade (1.9%) and transport, storage and mail (1.7%).
Among the components of domestic demand, the highlight was direct investment, measured by the gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), which grew by 1.2% in the first quarter of 2011, after having grown by 0.4% in the previous quarter.
Family consumption slowed down during the period and grew by 0.6%, after having recorded growth rates of 1.1%, 1.7% and 2.3% in the three previous quarters.
The document issued by the IBGE also shows that both exports (-3.2%) and imports of goods and services (-1.6%) declined in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter.
At current values, the GDP reached 939.6 billion reals (US$ 590.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2011, of which 795.8 billion reals (US$ 500.4 billion) concern the value added to basic prices and 143.8 billion reals (US$ 90.4 billion) concern taxes.
The president of the Brazilian Central Bank, Alexandre Tombini, believes that the Brazilian economy is in a sustained growth cycle, at a pace that is more in keeping with domestic and foreign equilibrium.
In a statement issued by the Central Bank, Tombini claims that “domestic demand remains the main pillar of the economy.” The statement underscores that family consumption grew by 5.9% when compared to the first quarter of 2010, the 30th consecutive increase using this basis of comparison. To Tombini, the performance has been driven by moderate expansion of credit to families and by job and income generation.
“Gross fixed capital formation, a good way to measure investment, grew by 8.% in the first quarter, compared with the first quarter of 2010, a robust performance that implies that Brazilian businessmen remain confident in the perspectives for the Brazilian economy this year and in the next few years,” the Central Bank statement reads.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
