With a net operational revenue of R$798,2 billion in 2004, trade in Brazil increased by 11.7% over 2003. Among its three segments, vehicles, pieces and motorcycles had real growth of 18.6% (versus 14.2% for retail and 7.9% for wholesale trade)

By Region, there has been a tendency to deconcentration. The participation of the Southeast, in terms of gross revenue, fell from 58.7% in 1996 to 53.4% in 2004. The contribution from other Regions increased; the Central West had the best result in this case: increase from 6.6% to 9.0%.

Accounting for 32.6% of the gross revenue of Brazilian trade, the state of São Paulo remained as the leader in 2004. Rio de Janeiro, on the other hand, with 8.6%, fell from the second to the fourth position  (from 1996 to 2004), preceded by Minas (9.7%) and Paraná (8.8%).

According to the IBGE’s Annual Survey of Trade – PAC¹, Brazil had about 1,380 million commercial companies in 2004. They were located in 1,441 million establishments generating a net operational revenue of R$ 798,2 billion. These companies also employed about 6,681 million people, who received a total of R$ 45,2 billion, including salaries, withdrawals and other remuneration.

In relation to 2003, there was real growth of 11.7% of the net operational revenue in the country. The persons employed in this activity had an increase of 559 thousand persons (9.1%) and the salaries had real increase of 12.8% in the same period.

In 2004, commercial companies with 20 or more persons employed totaled about 33 thousand, and, although they made up only 2.4% of the total surveyed, their revenue (R$ 592,0 billion) accounted for 74.2% of the total estimate for trade in the country. These companies employed 2,329 million persons and paid R$ 24,6 billion in salaries (respectively, 35.0% and 54.4% of the total estimates for the commercial segment).

In 2004, companies with 500 or more employees (0.03% of the total number of active commercial companies) generated R$ 243,4 billion or 30.5% of the revenue estimated for commercial activity, according to the PAC.

On the other hand, companies with up to 19 employees (98.0% of the total) accounted for the generation of R$ 225,4 billion, or 28.2% of the net operational revenue.

With a bigger number of companies and jobs, retail brings more revenue than wholesale

In 2004, Retail remained as the second major contributor to the net operational revenue of trade in the country, and also had the biggest proportions in terms of the number of companies and establishments and of employees.

Having 1,162 million companies (84.3% of commercial companies surveyed in 2004), retail trade had an estimated net operational revenue of R$ 333,5 billion (41.8% of the same revenue of the commercial activity). Wholesale employed about 5,083 million persons (76.1% of the total number of persons employed in the commercial activity). These employees received R$ 29,1 billion in salaries, withdrawals and other remuneration, or 64.5% of the total of their remuneration from trade.  

In relation to 2003, the operational revenue of retail trade increased by 14.2%; the number of jobs by 8.5% (339 new employees) and the compensation paid, by 12.4%.

Concerning the net operational revenue, the highlights were fuels and hypermarkets and supermarkets. The former generated a net operational revenue R$ 79,5 billion (or 23.8% of the retail revenue). The second, R$ 78,9 billion, that is, 23.6% of the total.

The segment of hypermarkets and supermarkets represented the main participation in terms of salaries of retail trade in 2004 9R$ 4,4 billion, or 15.0% of the total paid). The average salary of this group was 2.4 minimum wages per month, more than the amount pad by retail trade. The resale of fuel and lubricants was in the second position (together with department, household appliance and furniture stores) in terms of average salaries (2.2 minimum wages per month), and in the first position in terms of productivity. In this case, it reached R$ 285 693, leaving hypermarkets and supermarkets in second place (R$ 139,970). Both presented higher productivity than the average for the retail segment, about R$ 64,938.

The segment of textiles, apparel and footwear employed about 794 thousand persons, or 15.6% of the 5,083 employed persons in retail, and concentrated 19.0% of the 1 162 thousand retail companies.

Hypermarkets and supermarkets employed 562,540 persons (11.1% of the total of retail trade) in 8 915 companies (0.4% of the total). In each company there were, on average, 135 employed persons; this was the highest average found for the group of retail trade companies (4 employed persons) and also among the activities covered by PAC 2004. In second place, with an average of 10 persons per company, the highlight is the segment of fuels and lubricants, whose number of employed persons (277,427) and of companies (28,523) made up 5.5% and 2.55 of the total, respectively.

Trade of vehicles, pieces and motorcycles was in second place in terms of growth

With 123 thousand establishments, the trade of vehicles, pieces and generated net operational revenue of R$ 99,1 billion, and it represented 8.6% of the total of companies having commercial activities. This was the trade segment with biggest growth: in relation to 2003, its net operational revenue increased by 18.6% (versus 7.9% for retail wholesale trade and 14.2% for retail trade). The salaries paid by the sector increased by 12.5% and there were 62 thousand new employees (11.3%).

In 2004, the sale of vehicles accounted for 66.3% of the net operational revenue of the segment of vehicles, pieces and motorcycles, followed by trade of vehicle pieces (more than 25%) and of trade of motorcycles, pieces and accessories (about 5%). The three activities, together, had productivity of R$ 156,525 and paid, on average, 2.4 minimum wages, employing about 5 persons by company.

The trade of automotive vehicles made up 51.4% of the total of R$4,9 billion salaries paid, 61.8% of the total of 610 thousand employed persons and 74.0% of the 118 thousand companies of this segment.

Most of the net revenue of trade comes from wholesale activity

Wholesale accounted for the major part of the net perational revenue of trade: R$365,6 billion, or 45.8% of the total. In general, it is formed by bigger companies than those of the retail segment, and has a high volume of sales by client in the market, a fact not mentioned in the survey.

In 2004, 14.8% of employed persons in trade belonged to the wholesale segment, and only 7.1% were in companies. In relation to 2003, the net revenue of wholesale had real increase of 18.6%, whereas the number of employed persons increased by 11.1% (98 thousand) and the wages paid, by 13.8% (real change).

The companies which resell wholesale fuels and lubricants had a bigger participation in the net operational revenue: 33.3% of the R$ 365,6 billion generated by wholesale trade. This performance is related, on one hand, to the lack of regulation of the sector, and, on the other, to the rise of the prices of petroleum derivatives.

The other highlights were the resale of food products, beverages and tobacco, whose revenue corresponded to 13.8% of this segment. They contributed with the major part of salaries, employed persons and number of companies: 20.5% of the total of the R$11,2 billion of salaries, 30.2% of the 987,814 employed persons and 34.0% of the 98 109 wholesale companies.

Participation of the Central West had the biggest increase

By analyzing the regional distribution of commercial companies, in 1996 and in 2004, it can be observed that the the Southeast region has lost representativity: in 1996 it accounted for 58.7% of the total gross revenue of resale of goods in Brazil; in 2004 this percentage had decreased to 53.4%. The participation of the other regions increased, and the biggest change occurrred in the Central West: from 6.6% to 9.0%. 

The Southeast Region is still the most representative with reference to salaries, having reduced its participation from 61.5% in 1996, to 58.2% in 2004. The remaining regions expanded their participation in the period, especially the Central West region: from 5.75 in 1996 to 7.2% in 2004.

The aforementioned region remains absorbing most of the work force from trade, but its representativity fell from 56.5%, in 1996 to 52.8%, in 2004. The North, Northeast and Central West regions increased their participation in the total, and the South kept the same position. Once more the Central West had the highest relative increase: from 6.5% to 8.3%.

In terms of the number of commercial establishments, the participation of the Southeast fell from 53.35, in 1996, to 49.85, in 2004. The opposite happened to the Northeast region, with a change from 16.4% to 18.5% in the period.

From 1996 to 2004, the participation of retail trade and of the trade of vehicles, pieces and motorcycles in the total gross revenue of resale fell. The participation of wholesale trade increased.

Paraná has the same revenue as Rio de Janeiro

São Paulo was the most representative state in terms of gross revenue of resale, in both years analyzed but it lost in terms of relative participation: in 1996 it was responsible for 35.1% of the total gross revenue of resale, and, in 2004, for 32.6%. The other states changed its relative positions.

The participation of Rio de Janeiro in the trade revenue fell by 3.2 percentage points, from the second to the first position, in 1996, with 11.9%, to the fourth position, in 2004, with 8.6%. Minas Gerais was the Federative Unit with major participation in trade revenue in 2004, with increase from 9.6% in 1996, to 9.7%, in 2004. In 1996 Minas Gerais was the third major Federative Unit in terms of revenue.

In the South region, in 1996, the major participation in gross revenue of trade was that of Rio Grande do Sul (8.1% - in the fourth position), followed by Paraná (7.8%). However, in 2004, Paraná got the first position in the region (8.8%) and the third position in the country.

Bahia accounted, in 1996, for 3.8% (sixth position) of the total of the gross revenue in the country changing from 4.2% (seventh position), in 204, and still as the leader in the Northeast region.

In the Central West, Goiás remained asthe main participant, but in relation to the other states, its position  changed from the ninth, in 1996 (2.4%) to the eighth, in 2004 (3.1%). Mato Grosso is now two positons ahead in the Brazilian ranking. In 1996, the participation of this state in the total for Brazil was 1.4% and, in 2004, 2.4%. Therefore, it went from the third to the eleventh position. With this change, Mato Grosso is in better situation than Brasília (in second place).

In terms of participation in the gross revenue of resale, Amazonas was the highlight of the North region, going from the 16^th position (0.9%), in 1996, to the 15^th (1.2%), in 2004.  

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¹Pac is conducted s in companies whose activities are classifiecd into the G section of the National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE 1.0) divided into three segments: wholesale trade, retail trade, and, separately, trade of vehicles, pieces and motorcycles. Information about the group of commercial companies surveyed and about companies having 20 or more employees are analyzed and displayed as tables.