Periodic revision shows drop of 3.5% in GDP in 2015
November 09, 2017 10h00 AM | Last Updated: November 09, 2017 10h52 AM
The Gross Domestic Product - GDP registered R$5.996 trillion in 2015, and its drop in volume, in relation to 2014, was revised from 3.8% to 3.5%. The per capita GDP fell 4.3% in relation to 2014, and stayed at R$29,324. It was the biggest retreat in this indicator in the time series started in 1996, which also took place more recently in 2014 (-0.4%), 2009 (-1.2%) and 2003 (-0.2%). Industry and services dropped 5.8% and 2.7%, respectively, whereas agriculture rose 3.3%. It was the first drop in services since the beginning of the time series in 1996.
Released today by the IBGE, this information comprises the System of National Accounts 2010-2015, and are always revised along two years following the reference period (2015) in order to provide a more detailed and structured result of the economic situation of Brazil.
Concerning households, savings recorded a nominal increase of 25.2% against 2014. This figure was followed by the drop in the consumption volume (-3.2%). According to Carlos Sobral, manager of National Accounts, "the fact that 2015 was in the middle of a crisis caused households to control their expenses. In addition, the increase in savings, in nominal terms, is due to the increase of income (+6.4%) being higher than that of consumption (+5.4%)".
Among the enterprises in the financial sector, the gross value added posted R$363 billion, an increase of 14.7% compared with 2014. According to Sobral, the favorable scenario for the enterprises in the financial sector was a result of the high interest rates in 2015: “It was a general rise, as Selic rose from 11.8% to 14.3%, and the interest rates for natural persons and legal persons, from 31.2% to 35.7% and from 16.6% to 19.5%, respectively”.
On the other hand, non-financial enterprises performed badly with lower borrowing needs, as their output increased less than consumption with an increasing compensation of employees (+5.4%). “The reduction in the borrowing needs cannot be considered a positive factor, as it was caused by the reduction in investments and output in order to drain the existing stocks”, explains the National Accounts manager.
Text: Pedro Renaux
Graph: Pedro Vidal
Image: Pexels
