The Gross Domestic Product - GDP reached R$5.996 trillion in 2015 and its drop in volume, compared with 2014, was revised from 3.8% to 3.5%.

Services fell 2.7%, the first negative figure since the beginning of the time series in 1996. Agriculture rose 3.3% and industry dropped 5.8%.

The per capita GDP (R$29,324) fell 4.3% in relation to 2014. It was the biggest retreat in this indicator in the time series started in 1996, which also retreated more recently in 2014 (-0.4%), 2009 (-1.2%) and 2003 (-0.2%). 

Consumption of households, which accounts for 62.5% of the GDP, fell 3.2%, the first drop since 2003 (-0.4%).

The investment rate retreated to 17.8%, a reduction of 3.1 percentage points (p.p.) in relation to its peak of 20.9% (2013) in the 2000-2015 time series.

Having increased the export volume of goods and services by 6.8% and having decreased the import volume by 14.2%, the biggest drop since 1999 (-15.1%), the foreign sector was the only one to positively contribute to the GDP.

Among the enterprises in the financial sector, the gross value added registered a nominal growth of 14.7% and reached R$363 billion. The rises in the Selic rate (from 11.8% to 14.3%), in the interest rate for natural persons (from 31.2% to 35.7%) and in the interest rate for legal persons (from 16.6% to 19.5%) contributed to this result.

This is part of the information that comprises the System of National Accounts 2010-2015, which includes more comprehensive and detailed data from the IBGE and external sources, as well as methodological updates, which revise the results of the Quarterly National Accounts.

The complete publication can be accessed here.

Industry (-5.8%) and services (-2.7%) drop, agriculture rises 3.3%

Under the point of view of production, industry and services dropped  5.8% and 2.7%, respectively, whereas agriculture rose 3.3%. Concerning the composition of the GDP by value added, services accounted for 72.5%, industry, for 22.5% and agriculture, for 5.0%.

Of the seven activities surveyed in services, which recorded the first drop in the time series started in 1996, only the administration, defense, public health and education, and social security activity rose (+0.2%). Trade shrank 7.3%, mainly influenced by the retraction in the sales of industrial products. The activities of wholesale and retail trade, except motor vehicles and trade/repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, accounted for nearly half (1.4 p.p.) of the drop in the gross value added in services. 

In industry, construction posted the biggest drop (-9.0%), following a loss in the share in the total gross value added of the economy between 2015 (5.7%) and 2014 (6.2%). The volume of investment in products of civil construction fell 10.2%, while it dropped 8.5% in the manufacturing industry. The mining and quarrying industry rose 5.7% in volume, leveraged by the increase of 8.1% in the production of crude oil in 2015.

Agriculture maintained the positive performance in 2013 (+8.4%) and 2014 (+2.8%), highlighted by the increasing output of soybean grain (+12.8%) and corn grain (+4.3%).

Drop in consumption of households (-3.2%), major negative impact

On the demand side, consumption of households, which accounts for 62.5% of the GDP, fell 3.2%, the first drop reported since 2003 (-0.4%). Consumption of government also retracted (-1.4%), registering the first negative change since 2000 (-0.2%). Final consumption expenditure shrank 2.8%. Gross fixed capital formation, which comprises construction, machinery and equipment, intellectual property products and other fixed assets, fell 13.9%. This result influenced the drop in the investment rate (17.8%), a reduction of 3.1 p.p. in relation to its peak in 2013 (20.9%) in the 2000-2015 time series. Having increased the export volume of goods and services by 6.8% and having decreased the import volume by 14.2%, the biggest drop since 1999 (-15.1%), the foreign sector was the only one to positively contribute to the GDP. Exports benefited from the 41.6% devaluation of the exchange rate.

On the income side, the share of compensation of employees in the GDP continued to grow, changing from 43.5% in 2014 to 44.6% in 2015. The retraction in the economy caused gross operating surplus – gross value added less compensation of employees, mixed earnings and taxes net of subsidies on the production – to decrease its share, changing from 33.1% in 2014 to 32.1% in 2015. The share of taxes net of subsidies on the production and imports in the GDP remained virtually stable, changing from 14.9% in 2014 to 15.0%.

Net borrowing of national economy falls 28%

In 2015, net borrowing of the Brazilian economy recorded R$188.7 billion, a drop of 28% in relation to 2014 (R$262.0 billion). This result was influenced by the performance of the foreign trade, since exports of goods and services posted a nominal growth of 21.5% over 2014, whereas imports grew 6.6% only.

For the first time in the 2000-2015 time series, gross operating surplus of non-financial enterprises dropped (-4.7%). This drop was due to the stability of the gross value added (+0.9%) and to the growth of the compensation of employees (+5.4%). In this context, the accounts of these enterprises were adjusted through a reduction in investment and stock. As another unprecedented event in the time series, the net borrowing/gross value added relation of non-financial enterprises stood close to zero.

Among the financial enterprises, gross value added increased 14.7% and registered R$363 billion. The increase in the income of these enterprises in 2015 over 2014 was due to the rise of the basic interest rate - Selic, from 11.8% to 14.3%, of the interest rate for natural persons, from 31.2% to 35.7%, and of the interest rate for legal persons, from 16.6% to 19.5%, which contributed to the increase of the net borrowing of this sector, from R$102.9 billion in 2014 to R$155.2 billion.

Household savings rose 25.2% over 2014, representing 12.0% of the available income. The final consumption of households dropped 3.2% in real terms, and its nominal increase (+5.4%) was lower than that of the available income (+6.4%). The share of compensation in the available income of households stabilized at 64.9%, on average, between 2010 and 2015. In the same period, the consumed income – final consumption of households/available income – changed 91.0%.

In 2015, the production of government registered a nominal growth of 8.4%, a total of R$1.2 trillion, being R$322 billion of intermediate consumption and R$885 billion of value added – a nominal increase of 8.4% in relation to 2014.  This result expanded the share of government in the gross value added of the economy, from 16.4% in 2014 to 17.2%.

As a result of the fiscal situation of government, the GFCF dropped about 20%, from R$171 billion in 2014 to R$136 billion. The drop in investments was noticed along every government sphere. While the revenue from taxes net of subsidies on the production and imports fell 0.5% in relation to the total amount taxed by government, tax collection over income and properties increased 0.4%.