The low performance of the manufacturing industry in 2012 was the main responsible for the participation losses in the Brazilian GDP of São Paulo, which changed from 11.6% to 11.4%, Manaus, from 1.2% to 1.1% and São Bernardo do Campo (SP), from 0.9% to 0.8%. Nevertheless, São Paulo remained as the municipality with the highest generation of income in Brazil, followed by Rio de Janeiro (5.0% of the national GDP) and Brasília (3.9%), both losing 0.1 percentage points in relation to 2011. In five years, the participation loss of São Paulo reached 0.4 percentage points. Goiânia (from 0.67% to 0.69%) and Aracaju (0.22% in both years) rose one position in the ranking of capitals, surpassing Vitória (from 0.68% to 0.65%) and Porto Velho (from 0.23% to 0.22%), respectively.

On the other hand, the prices in the mining and quarrying industry increased significantly. As a result, the municipalities whose economies were based on mineral commodities recorded a higher participation gain than those with a diversified industry. This was the case of Campos dos Goytacazes, whose participation in the national GDP changed from 0.9% in 2011 to 1.0% in 2012, Cabo Frio (from 0.23% to 0.28%), Rio das Ostras (from 0.22% to 0.26%), Macaé (from 0.30% to 0.33%) – all of them in Rio de Janeiro – and Presidente Kennedy (from 0.10% to 0.12%), in Espírito Santo. Presidente Kennedy remained as the highest per capita GDP in Brazil in 2012 (R$ 511,967.24), whereas Curralinho was the lowest (R$ 2,720.32), in Pará.

In addition, the generation of income remained concentrated in 2012, with 5.8% of the municipalities (324 of 5,565) accounting for 75% of the GDP. Among them, six capitals – São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte and Manaus – corresponded to 25% of the Brazilian GDP. However, the relative participation of the capitals (33.4%) was the lowest one along the time series started in 1999.

In 2012, the states in the North and Northeast Regions remained dependent on their capitals, particularly in Amazonas: Manaus contributed with 77.7% of the state GDP. The lowest dependency was in Santa Catarina, where Florianópolis contributed with 7.1% to the state income. This was the only capital ranking out of the first position in its state. Itajaí (11.1%) ranked in the first position, followed by Joinville (10.3%).

The Gross Domestic Product of Municipalities 2012 project was developed in partnership with state statistical organizations, state government departments and the Superintendence of the Manaus Free Trade Zone (Suframa). It brings information on the participation of municipalities in the national GDP and in their respective states and on per capita GDP, as well as data about the three major sectors of the economic activity (industry, agriculture and services). The complete survey is available on link https://www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/economia/pibmunicipios/2012/default.shtm.

Half of income generation in Brazil comes from 57 municipalities

In 2012, the GDP of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte and Manaus corresponded approximately to 25.0% of all the income generation in Brazil. Altogether, these capitals concentrated 13.6% of the population. The aggregated income of 57 municipalities reached approximately half of the national GDP and 31.4% of the population. 1,334 municipalities with the lowest contribution to the GDP accounted for 1.0% of the income generation, aggregating 3.3% of the population. 75.9% of the municipalities of Piauí, 61.4% of the municipalities of Paraíba, 53.2% of the municipalities of Tocantins and 50.9% of the municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte were among them.

Apart from capitals, 11 municipalities stood out as they individually generated more than 0.5% of the GDP, adding up to 8.7% of the Brazilian income. All of them had industry and services highly integrated: Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ), 1.0%; Guarulhos (SP), 1.0%; Campinas (SP), 1.0%; Osasco (SP), 0.9%; Santos (SP), 0.9%; São Bernardo do Campo (SP), 0.8%; Barueri (SP), 0.8%; Betim (MG), 0.6%; São José dos Campos (SP), 0.6%; Duque de Caxias (RJ), 0.6%, and Jundiaí (SP), 0.5%.

Participation of 5 highest GDP in the economy of states is higher in North and Northeast Regions

In the majority of the states of the North and Northeast Regions, the five highest municipal GDPs concentrated more than half of the state GDP. Amapá (87.1%), Amazonas (85.7%) and Roraima (85.0%) registered the highest spatial concentrations of income in Brazil. It showed that these states were dependent on their respective capitals. It was particularly true in Amazonas, since Manaus contributed with 77.7% to the state GDP, though it was the lowest value in the time series. In Tocantins (46.6%) and Bahia (41.9%) the participation of the five municipalities that generated the highest income was lower than 50%.

The Southeast Region did not show a specific pattern, though the five highest GDPs of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro concentrated 58.8% and 64.0%, respectively. In the South and Central-West Regions, this concentration surpassed 50% only in Mato Grosso do Sul (55.8%). On the other hand, Minas Gerais (34.4%), Rio Grande do Sul (34.4%), Mato Grosso (37.0%) and Santa Catarina (38.5%) recorded the lowest concentrations. Santa Catarina was the most autonomous state in relation to its capital, since Florianópolis contributed with 7.1% to the state GDP in 2012.

In 2012, the participation of capitals in the national GDP was the lowest since the beginning of the time series in 1999, concentrating 33.4% of the national income. The capitals from the North Region were responsible for 2.3% of this total; those from the Northeast, for 4.7%; those from the Southeast, 18.4%; those from the South, 2.7%; and those from the Central-West, 5.3%. São Paulo (11.4%) remained in the first position in terms of the contribution to the national GDP, whereas Palmas (TO) ranked in the last position (0.1%). Florianópolis was the only capital out of the first position in its state. Itajaí ranked in the first position in 2012, followed by Joinville.

São Paulo is the municipality that mostly loses participation in GDP in 2012

Among the 24 municipalities that generated at least 0.5% of the GDP in 2012, the biggest participation loss in the national GDP took place in São Paulo (-0.3 percentage points), followed by São Bernardo do Campo (SP), Manaus, Brasília and Osasco (SP), all of them reducing 0.1 p.p. The low performance of the manufacturing industry contributed to this decrease in all the cases.

The highest positive changes were posted in Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ), Santos (SP) and São Luís, all of them increasing 0.1 percentage points. In Campos dos Goytacazes, the effect of the foreign exchange rate in the price of petroleum directly impacted the mining and quarrying industry. In Santos, the rise was due to the manufacturing industry, services of financial intermediation, insurance and supplementary social security and related services, as well as to the services rendered to enterprises. In São Luís, the trade of fuels, lubricants and derivatives justified the gain.

Table 7 - Relative participation andabsolute difference of the Gross Domestic Product,
according to municipalities with at least 0.5% of the Gross Domestic Products and
respective Federation Units, in descending order - 2008-2012

Per capita GDP of municipalities reflects concentration and inequality among regions

In the 556 municipalities with the lowest per capita GDP, the value was lower than R$ 4,639.63. Representing 10.0% of the municipalities in Brazil, 67.9% of the municipalities of Piauí, 46.5% of Maranhão and 44.0% of Ceará were among them. Conversely, in 10% of the municipalities with the highest per capita GDP this indicator was 5.3 times higher than in 60% of those with the lowest per capita GDP.

More than 30% of the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul registered a per capita GDP above the national one (R$ 22,645.86), while Acre and Roraima did not record any municipality with such characteristic. Regardless of posting the highest per capita GDP among the capitals (R$ 86,009.28) - four times the Brazilian one -, Vitória was the fourth highest in Espírito Santo, after Presidente Kennedy (R$ 511,967.24), Anchieta (R$ 207,431.80) and Itapemirim (R$ 130,801.25).

Presidente Kennedy remained as the municipality with the highest per capita GDP in Brazil, due to the production of petroleum. It was followed by Louveira (SP), Confins (MG) and Triunfo (RS). These municipalities had a low population density in common.

On the other hand, Curralinho (PA) remained as the lowest per capita GDP in Brazil (R$ 2,720.32). Located in the archipelago of Marajó, Curralinho was sustained by the transfer of federal resources and its public administration contributed with 59.4% to the total gross value added. Other important activities were civil construction, fishing and extractive agriculture.

São Desidério maintains same participation in gross value added of agriculture

São Desidério (BA), Sorriso (MT) and Rio Verde (GO) remained as the municipalities with the highest participation in the gross value added of agriculture in 2012. By contributing with 0.6%, São Desidério was responsible for 12.4% of the production of upland cotton, whose price changed 66.4% in relation to 2011. Sorriso (0.5%) was the biggest producer of soybeans and corn. The increase of the production value was due to corn, which grew 124.6% in relation to the previous year. In Rio Verde (0.5%), agriculture was integrated with industries from the food sector, highlighted by corn and sorghum. In livestock, the raise of hogs and pigs stood out. The use of advanced technologies and professionalization disseminated the growing techniques, as well as improved the productive process.

Municipalities of RJ gain participation in value added of industry

In 2012, only 13 municipalities concentrated about 25% of the gross value added of industry, as well as 14.5% of the Brazilian population. By increasing this number to 72 municipalities, the concentration reached half of the gross value added of industry and 30.2% of the population. 2,332 municipalities belonging to the lowest range accounted for 1.0% of the gross value added of industry and concentrated 7.9% of the population.

The biggest drops in terms of the participation in the value added of industry were reported in Parauapebas (PA), Manaus, São Paulo and São Bernardo do Campo (SP). By extracting iron ore and manganese, Parauapebas (-0.4 p.p.), a large mining site, generated 1.4% of the industrial gross value added in 2012. Manaus (-0.3 p.p.) remained around 2.0% in the time series, yet generating 1.7% of the industrial gross value added in Brazil in 2012. São Paulo (-0.3 p.p.) remained as the main industrial complex, posting a participation of 7.6%. São Bernardo do Campo (-0.2 p.p.) generated 1.0% of the gross value added of industry.

Campos dos Goytacazes, Cabo Frio and Rio das Ostras (all of them in RJ) registered the highest participation gains. Campos dos Goytacazes (3.7%), which gained 0.8 p.p. in 2012, ranked in the second position. Cabo Frio (0.3 p.p.) and Rio das Ostras (0.2 p.p.) generated about 0.9% of the industrial value added in 2012 each. The growth was associated with the production of petroleum, oil and natural gas in all of them.

43 municipalities add up to half of value added of services

In 2012, only 43 municipalities added up to half of the gross value added of services and 29.6% of the population. In the same year, 1,300 municipalities accounted for 1.0% of the gross value added of services and concentrated 2.7% of the population. The generation of the gross value added of services in the capitals added up to 38.9% in 2012. Considering 43 municipalities that added up to half of the gross value added of services, 20 of them were capitals. 22 municipalities represented at least 0.5% of the gross value added of services in 2012.

São Luís gained 0.1 p.p. of participation in relation to 2011. Trade and services of maintenance and repair was the sector responsible for this gain.  São Paulo was the capital with the biggest participation loss (-0.3 p.p.), followed by Brasília (-0.2 p.p.) and Rio de Janeiro (-0.2 p.p.). The loss in São Paulo was related to the performance of financial intermediation and trade, below the average of the economy. In relation to the previous year, Brasília gained participation only in the segments of trade and financial intermediation. The segments of information services and financial intermediation lost participation in Rio de Janeiro.

36.1% of municipalities have economies dependent on public administration

Of the 5,565 municipalities, 2,010 (36.1%) had more than 1/3 of their economies dependent on public education, health and administration, and social security. Two municipalities recorded a participation of this subsector above 70.0% of the GDP in 2012: Uiramutã (RR), 80.4%, and Areia de Baraúnas (PB), 71.1%. This subsector posted a weight above 50% in nearly all of the municipalities of Roraima, except the capital, Boa Vista (41.2%). The weight of this subsector was below the national weight in 14 capitals, particularly in Vitória (4.8%), São Paulo (6.0%), São Luís (7.6%) and Curitiba (8.0%).