From February to March, Brazilian industrial production increased by 1.1%, with growth in 11 of the 15 areas surveyed by the Regional Monthly Survey of Industry (PIM). The highest increases were registered by Mato Grosso (9.3%), Amazonas (8.7%) and Pernambuco (8.1%). In the cumulative quarterly rate, industry fell 0.4% and negative rates were recorded in 13 of the 18 areas surveyed. In the cumulative result in 12 months, the change was null (0.0%), with nine of the 15 areas analyzed showing negative results. The data were disclosed today (19) by the IBGE.

In April, the results of the Regional PIM were released for the first time after the updates were made to the sample selection of companies, local branches and to the list of products, in addition to the inclusion of three new areas: Rio Grande do Norte, Maranhão and Mato Grosso do Sul.

The main positive influence on the national result was Rio Grande do Sul, with a growth of 5.6%. “The March result comes after two straight months of negative results. Some sectors that had previously had a negative trajectory showed growth in March. The sectors of motor vehicles and petroleum derivatives impacted the performance of the industry in Rio Grande do Sul. This advance in the state also eliminates part of the cumulative loss in the two previous months, of 11.5%”, explains Bernardo Almeida, PIM Regional analyst.

Amazonas exerted the second main influence this month, with an expansion of 8.7%, mainly thanks to IT equipment, electronics and optical products; and other transportation equipment. It is the fourth consecutive positive rate of the Amazonian industry, accumulating a gain of 20.7%.

Ranking as the third in influence, Bahia grew by 5.6%. The performance of the petroleum derivatives sector and, to a lesser extent, that of other chemical products explain the position.

Among the drops, the main influence came from Paraná (-1.3%). “The sector of wood product had a negative influence on the result of the industry in Paraná, which ended up eliminating the gain recorded in the previous month, of 0.3%”, adds Mr. Almeida. Santa Catarina, with a decrease of 1.4%, appears as the second main negative influence, due to the apparel sector.


São Paulo, the largest industrial park in the country, is 2.7% below the pre-pandemic level (February 2020). “The pace of industry in São Paulo is still below that observed more than three years ago, showing a difficulty in sustained growth. São Paulo had a positive change of 0.2% from February to March, mainly due to the good performance of the sectors of motor vehicles, petroleum derivatives and machinery and equipment. As a result, the state interrupts three months of negative figures. During this period, the industry of São Paulo had a cumulative loss of 4.9%. In comparison with March 2022, São Paulo exerted the greatest negative influence, with a drop of 2.4%”, analyzes the survey analyst.

Quarterly data shows decrease compared to the same period in 2022

In the comparison of the quarterly cumulative index (January-March 2023) with the same period of last year, the national production had a reduction of 0.4%, reaching 13 of the 18 areas surveyed. Rio Grande do Sul (-9.2%), Mato Grosso (-7.4%) and Bahia (-5.2%) stood out.

“What can explain this result is a loss of pace in the production chain, a consequence of the caution with which decisions about industrial production have been taken. There are many uncertainties, it is something that is observed in the whole country in general”, concludes Mr. Almeida.

On the other hand, Amazonas (14.8%), Maranhão (8.3%) and Minas Gerais (8.0%) had the sharpest advances.

Industry advances in nine of the 18 areas surveyed in the interannual comparison

The industrial sector grew 0.9% compared to March last year and, regionally, nine of the 18 areas surveyed followed the positive result. It is worth mentioning that March 2023 (23 days) had one more business day than the same month of the previous year (22). The highest increases were registered by Amazonas (23.5%), Mato Grosso do Sul (8.6%), Minas Gerais (7.3%), Mato Grosso (6.7%), Maranhão (6.6%), Rio de Janeiro (5.8%), Pará (3.1%) and Rio Grande do Norte (1.3%).

The two-digit increase observed in Amazonas was mainly caused by the activities of information technology equipment, electronic and optical products (memory units, cell phones, televisions and ATMs), coke, petroleum products and biofuels (motor gasoline, aviation kerosene and naphtha), other transportation equipment (motorcycles and their parts and accessories), machinery and equipment (accounting machines, ticket issuing machines and the like, and wall, window or transportable air conditioners, including those of the split system) and beverages (industrial syrup preparations for beverages).

On the other hand, Rio Grande do Sul (-6.5%) and Goiás (-5.3%) had the most significant falls. Industrial production in Rio Grande do Sul was largely impacted by the negative behavior observed in the sectors of coke, petroleum products and biofuels (diesel fuel, motor gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas and naphtha) and food products (whole grape juice, frozen poultry meat and offal, frozen pork meat, sausage or salami products and other poultry meat preparations, sterilized/UHT/Long Life milk and animal feed).

In Goiás, the main responsible for the negative result were chemical products (deodorants, chemical fertilizers of the NPK formulas, potassium chlorides, hair preparations and soaps or detergents), manufacture of apparel and accessories (t-shirts, pants, shirts, blouses and the like for men and shorts, dungarees, pants and the like for women) and food products (fresh or cooled beef, fresh or cooled poultry meat and offal, raw soybean oil and rice).

Santa Catarina (-3.1%), São Paulo (-2.4%), Pernambuco (-2.3%), Ceará (-1.8%), Espírito Santo (-1.1%), Northeast Region (-1.0%) and Paraná (-1.0%) were the other states that dropped in this comparison.

More about the survey

PIM Regional has produced, since the 1970s, short-term indicators relating to the behavior of real output in mining and quarrying and manufacturing industries. It brings, monthly, indices for 17 states whose share is at least 0.5% in the total value of national industrial transformation, and also for the Northeast as a whole. Therefore, the survey covers Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás and the Northeast Region.

The survey results can also be consulted on Sidra, the IBGE database.