The results for National Accounts 2003, released by IBGE in partnership with Brazilian state governments, show that São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, the four biggest states in the country ...

The results for National Accounts 2003, released by IBGE in partnership with Brazilian state governments, show that São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, the four biggest states in the country and which concentrated, in 1985, 65.3% of GDP, accounted for 61% in 2003. That was their lowest participation in the series 1985-2003. São Paulo was the state which most contributed to this result, obtaining, in 2003, the fourth best result of the whole period (31.8%). Rio de Janeiro, since 2000, has recovered its position of the beginning of the series [1], and presented its best result of the whole period in 2003 (12.2%).

Whereas the four biggest states reduced their participation in GDP, the intermediate group (PE, DF, GO, PA, ES, CE, AM, MT and MS), composed by a great number of states based on agroindustry, was the one that advanced most. In this group, the highlights are the states of the Central-West region, besides Amazonas, which along the series reached the highest growth rates.

In relation to 2002, the states which most increased their participation in GDP were Rio Grande do Sul, from 7.8% to 8.2%, and Paraná, from 6.1% to 6.4%. In the same comparison, the major losses were those of São Paulo, from 32.6% to 31.8%, and Rio de Janeiro, from 12.6% to 12.2% .

In 2003, the production of grains prevailed

In 2003, soybeans increased by 23% and corn by 34%, which favored all the states of the agricultural frontier. These states, which had as their most important activity the planting and harvesting of grains, were the highlights in the analysis of real increase. The best result was obtained by Mato Grosso do Sul, with real increase of 7.8%, due to the production of corn and milk. The low base of comparison of 2002, when the performance of Mato Grosso do Sul was below that of the remaining states of the agricultural frontier, also contributed to this result.

The states of Amazonas (6.4%) and Acre (5.8%) had the second and fourth best results, respectively. In these two states, differently from the others showing good results in agriculture, the increase was due to the performance of industry. Amazonas grew by 6.4%, leading the manufacturing industry with a growth rate of 10% this year. The highlight, in this case, was the sector of electroelectronic material, which grew by 55%. The industrial sector, which accounts for 50% of the economy in Amazonas, had growth of 550% accumulated in the period (1985-2003), one of the best indicators in the series.

The result of Piauí (6.0), the best since 1994, reflects the good performance of agriculture, which grew by 32%. It was the best performance of the sector in all the states in this period. This result was reached, mainly, due to the harvest of soybeans, which grew by 238% in 2003 and is already the third most important product in the agriculture of Maranhão, the state had the second best result since 1993 and the fourth of all the series. Other highlights in terms of increase in participation were Acre (5.8%), Pará (5.3%), Paraná (5.2%), Goiás (5.1%), Mato Grosso (5.0%) and Rio Grande do Sul (4.8%).

Rio Grande do Sul was the highlight among the major states

Among the four most important economies, only that of Rio Grande do Sul presented a good result, placed in the 10^th position in the ranking of best performances in 2003. Besides presenting a good result for the agricultural activity (21%), Rio Grande do Sul had a good performance in the industrial sectors related to machinery and agricultural implements, related to the development of agriculture. The industrial sectors which contributed to this result were mechanical industry (23%) and transportation material (9%).

The states with the worst performances were those in the Southeast region: Rio de Janeiro (–0.2%), São Paulo (0.0%), Espírito Santo (0.0%) and Minas Gerais (0.4%). The manufacturing industry of Rio de Janeiro, which presented excellent results in 2002, growing by 4.1% after seven consecutive years of fall, fell, in 2003, by –3.0%. On the other hand, the activity of petroleum extraction, a sector which had excellent previous performances, had the worst result since 1993, it only grew by 1.8%. Even so, the accumulated increase rate is still high, 158%.

São Paulo did not grow in the year 2003. Both industry (0%), which accounts for 35% of the state economy, and agriculture (-0.5%), which accounts for 8%, were affected by the reduction of consumption. São Paulo agriculture, representing 24% of the value added of the activity, did not have a negative impact due to the production of sugar cane, which grew by 7% because of sugar export. Oranges, the second most relevant product, accounting for 20% of the state agriculture, fell by 10% due to the reduction of planted area caused by a plague in the orange trees of the state.

The production of coffee has decreased in the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. In the latter, coffee harvests have been reduced by 15%, with fall of international prices. In Minas Gerais, production decreased by 30%, but the crops of corn (11%), soybeans (20%), beans (10%) sugar cane (14%) made up for this loss.

Federal District still has the highest GDP per head in the country

Regarding GDP per head, the highest figure is still that of the Federal District (R$ 16.920,00). However, due to the low economic performance of the federal capital, the difference between this figure and the Brazilian average decreased. In 2002, GDP per head of the Federal District was 2.1 times the income in Brazil and, in 2003, 1.9 times.

In 2003, GDP per head of the states of Mato Grosso (R$ 8,391.00) and Mato Grosso do Sul (R$ 8,634.00), which had faced a reduction of the difference from the Brazilian average along the series, were closer to the average of the country for the first time (R$8,694.00).

Rio de Janeiro (R$ 12,671.00) remained as the second one in the ranking of GDP per head, followed by São Paulo (R$ 12.619,00). The worst results are still those of Maranhão (R$ 2.354,00) and Piauí (R$ 2.485,00). However, due to the good performance of their economies in the year 2003, both states were closer to the average of the country, with results previously unseen in the series. GDP per head of Maranhão now represents 30% of income per head in Brazil.

Concerning accumulated results, Mato Grosso was the leader

Mato Grosso (275%) was the leader concerning the accumulated results in the series, followed by Amazonas (271%), with an average increase of 7.6% per year for 18 years. In the case of Mato Grosso, the result was almost completely based on the expansion of the agricultural frontier and of the industry connected to this activity. In Amazonas, this increase was related to the industrial plant of SUFRAMA.

The worst results were observed in Ro de Janeiro (33%) and São Paulo (37%), both with an average increase of about 1.6% per year, below the average in Brazil (2.4% per year). Both states went through economical crises, decrease of internal demand and economic deconcentration. Rio de Janeiro, after the improvement of mining and quarrying industry, has recovered its good performance.

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[1] The System of  National Accounts, by IBGE, started in 1985.

[2] GDP per head is GDP divided by the population in the year of reference.