Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew (0.9%) from the second to the third quarter. Increases in Services (0.9%) and Industry (0.6%) contributed to this positive rate, even though Agriculture fell 0.9% in the period. In current values, R$3.0 trillion was generated. From January to September, the GDP accumulated an increase of 3.3%, while in the last four quarters, the increase was 3.1%. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, the indicator grew 4.0%. Data are from the System of Quarterly National Accounts, released today (3) by the IBGE.

When releasing the third quarter of the Quarterly National Accounts, the IBGE routinely carries out a more comprehensive review that incorporates the new weights of the Annual National Accounts conducted two years before it. However, due to the change project for the base year of the Accounts System from 2010 to 2021, there was additional work leading to the definition of a transition period in which the release of the annual series is temporarily suspended. Therefore, the results presented include revisions for 2023 and 2024, due to changes in the primary data. 

As a result, the GDP result for 2023, previously a growth of 2.9%, was revised to 3.2%, with revisions, from the perspective of production, in Services (from 2.4% to 2.8%), in Industry (from 1.6% to 1.7%) and in Agriculture (from 15.1% to 16.3%). 

“In Agriculture, the difference between the revised and original results can be explained mostly by the incorporation of new annual structural sources from the IBGE that were not available in the previous compilation, such as the surveys of Municipal Agricultural Production, Municipal Livestock Production, and Forestry Production. These surveys were incorporated to replace the data from cyclical surveys,” explains IBGE’s National Accounts coordinator, Rebeca Palis.

Information and communication, in addition to Manufacturing industries, stand out in Q3

In the results for the 3rd quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter, two of the three major economic sectors from the production perspective grew: Services (0.9%) and Industry (0.6%). Agriculture, on the other hand, recorded a drop of 0.9% in the period.

In Services, the following grew: Information and communication (2.1%); Other service activities (1.7%); Financial activities, insurance and related services (1.5%); Real estate activities (1.0%); Trade (0.8%); Transportation, storage and mailing (0.6%) and Public administration, defense, health and education and social security (0.5%). 

In Industry, there was a 1.3% increase in Manufacturing industries. On the other hand, the following fell: Construction (-1.7%); Electricity and gas, water, sewage, waste management activities (-1.4%) and Mining and quarrying industries (-0.3%).

From the demand approach, investment (Gross Fixed Capital Formation) grew by 2.1% compared to the previous quarter. In the same comparison, Household Consumption Expenditure increased by 1.5% and Government Consumption Expenditure increased by 0.8%. 

With regard to the foreign sector, there was a decrease in Exports of Goods and Services (-0.6%) and an increase in Imports of Goods and Services (1.0%) compared to the second quarter of 2024.

GDP grows 4.0% compared to the same period last year 

In comparison with the same quarter of 2023, the GDP grew 4.0%, the 15th consecutive increase on this basis of comparison. 

“As in the growth compared to the previous quarter, in this year-on-year comparison, the following service activities stand out: Information and communication driven by the Internet and systems development in addition to telecommunications; Other service activities influenced by professional services and services rendered to families; and Financial activities, insurance and related services leveraged by the increase in credit and insurance”, details Ms. Palis.

Agriculture registered a drop of 0.8% compared to the same period in 2023. The Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production (LSPA) released in November showed that some products, whose harvests are significant in the third quarter, showed a drop in the estimated annual production and loss of productivity, such as sugarcane (-1.2%), corn (-11.9%) and oranges (-14.9%). These declines outweighed the good performance of crops such as cotton (14.5%), wheat (5.3%) and coffee (0.3%), which also had significant harvests in the period. 

In Industry, the increase was 3.6% compared to the third quarter of last year. The highlight was Construction (5.7%), leveraged by both the increase in employment and the production of typical inputs for this activity. Manufacturing industries (4.2%) expanded, influenced mainly by the manufacture of motor vehicles; other transportation equipment; furniture and chemical products.

Electricity and gas, water, sewage, and waste management activities grew 3.7%, favored by the higher consumption of electricity, despite the more unfavorable tariff flags. There was a decrease only in Mining and quarrying industries (-1.0%), due to the drop in oil and gas extraction.

Services, with the greatest weight in the GDP, grew 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. All of its activities were positive: Information and communication (7.8%); Other service activities (6.4%); Financial, insurance and related services (5.1%); Trade (3.9%); Real estate activities (3.1%); Transportation, storage and mailing (2.5%) and Public administration, defense, health and education and social security (1.7%).

About the System of National Accounts

The System of National Accounts presents current values ​​and volume indexes on a quarterly basis for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at market prices, taxes on products, value added at basic prices, personal consumption, government consumption, gross fixed capital formation, inventory changes, exports and imports of goods and services. At the IBGE, the survey began in 1988 and was restructured in 1998, when its results were integrated into the System of National Accounts, which is published annually.