Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was down 7.3% in the first quarter this year compared with the last quarter of last year. The poor performance was the main contributing factor to the slowdown of the economy, which increased by only 0.2% during the period, according to figures issued by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) this Friday (1st).
Compared with the first quarter of last year, the rate of decline in agricultural GDP was even higher: 8.5%. Contributing factors included poor livestock farming performance and a decline in important crops such as soy, rice and tobacco.
“Agriculture, which performed very well last year, is suffering due to weather issues this year, such as drought in the South and Northeast. This had a strong negative influence on crops, which is of great importance to Brazil’s overall accounts,” said the IBGE National Accounts manager Rebeca Palis.
Financial intermediation also contributed negatively to the first quarter GDP. The segment was down 0.8% compared with the preceding quarter, the sharpest drop since the peak of the financial crisis, in the last quarter of 2008. According to Rebeca Palis, the result was driven by factors such as lowered interest rates, lower growth of credit, and increased insolvency.
The GDP growth rate in the first quarter this year was the same as in the preceding quarter (0.2%), and is equivalent to 1.03 trillion reals (US$ 510.1 billion). The sector of the economy that grew the most was industry (1.7%). The services sector grew by 0.6%. Government consumption was up 1.5% and families’ consumption was up 1.0%.
Gross formation of fixed capital was down 1.8% during the quarter. Exports were up 0.2% imports were up 1.1%. Over the last 12-month period, the Brazilian GDP was up 1.9%.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
