After eight quarters of decrease, GDP up 1.0%
June 01, 2017 09h00 AM | Last Updated: July 18, 2017 04h06 PM
In the first quarter of 2017, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country grew 1.0% in relation to the fourth quarter of 2016, in the seasonally adjusted series. This was the first high of the GDP in this comparison, after eight quarters in a row of decrease.
In the same comparison, Agriculture grew 13.4% . According to the Coordinator of the National Accounts of the IBGE, Rebeca Palis, this sector was the main responsible for the GDP high over the previous quarter. "In 2017, Agriculture shows a great performance, which is compared with a depressed basis in 2016, when the sector had gone down 6.6%", said the economist.
Still concerning the previous quarter, the Services sector (0.0%) held steady and Industry grew 0.9%. For Rebeca, the Industry's high also contributed to the GDP recovery in the first quarter of 2017. "In the seasonally adjusted series, this has been the highest rate of the sector since the second quarter of 2013", she claimed.
Compared to the first quarter of 2016, the GDP fell 0.4%, and in the cumulative index for the four quarters, it decreased 2.3%.
In current values, the GDP of the first quarter of 2017 reached R$1.6 trillion. However, the investment rate dropped to 15.6% and stood below that of the same period of 2016 (16.8%), whereas the savings rate rose to 15.7%, surpassing the 13.9% result seen in the same period of 2016.
By Luiz Bello, IBGE journalist
