From April to May 2011, the regional indexes of industrial production, not considering seasonal effects, pointed to increase in 11 of the 14 areas surveyed. The most significant increase was that of Goiás (15.0%), which made up for the fall (4.6%) observed in the last two months. Bahia (4.5%), Amazonas (3.9%), Paraná (3.6%), Pará (2.7%), São Paulo (1.9%) and Ceará (1.6%) completed the group of areas with increase above average (1.3%). Other positive results came from Northeast Region (1.1%), Pernambuco (0.8%), Minas Gerais (0.7%) and Rio Grande do Sul (0.4%). The areas which recorded increase in production over April were Espírito Santo (-0.3%), Rio de Janeiro (-1.8%) and Santa Catarina (-2.4%).

The complete publication of the Monthly Survey of Industry – Regional Physical Production, with more detailed analyses by area, is available at

www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfregional/.

In the comparison May 2011/May 2010, which showed growth of industrial output by 2.7% in the country as a whole, indexes by area increased in 8 of the 14 areas surveyed; this result was above those of March (four areas recording increase) and April (six areas). Besides the acceleration of production in May, there was a "calendar effect" over these results, since May 2011 had one business day more than April (22 days in the former, versus 21, in the latter).

Also considering a comparison with the same period in 2010, May brought increases above the national average in the following areas: Espírito Santo (18.8%), Goiás (9.8%), Amazonas (7.6%), Pará (7.1%), Rio Grande do Sul (5.7%) and São Paulo (3.9%). The other positive rates were those of Rio de Janeiro (0.8%) and Minas Gerais (0.6%). On the other hand, Ceará (-10.9%) and Santa Catarina (-9.8%) accounted for the most significant decreases, being followed by Paraná (-5.9%), Northeast Region (-4.6%), Pernambuco (-4.2%) and Bahia (-2.3%).

In terms of the indicator accumulated in the first five months of the year, versus the same period in 2010, 8 of the 14 areas surveyed recorded output increase. With an increment above the 1.8% recorded for the country, featured: Espírito Santo (13.4%), the only area with a two-digit rate, Rio de Janeiro (3.5%), São Paulo (2.6%), Minas Gerais (2.5%) and Rio Grande do Sul (2.3%). The bigger participation of segments related to production of capital goods (for transportation and construction) and durable consumer goods (automobiles, motorcycles and mobile telephones), besides the advances in mining and quarrying, pharmaceutical and metallurgy sectors, accounted for the positive performance of the aforementioned areas. 

With increases below the national average, Paraná (1.6%), Amazonas (0.4%) and Pará (0.2%) completed the group of areas with positive rates on this basis for comparison. Negative results were recorded by Goiás (-0.8%), Santa Catarina (-3.8%), Pernambuco (-5.2%), Northeast Region (-5.9%), Bahia (-6.7%) and Ceará (-9.8%).

The industrial output indicator accumulated in the last 12 months in Brazil decelerated from April (5.4%) to May (4.5%), what also affected 13 of the 14 areas surveyed. The main losses in terms of dynamism were faced by Paraná (from 11.5% in April to 8.3% in May), Ceará (from 0.9% to –1.5%), Santa Catarina (from 1.5% to -0.4%), Northeast Region (from 1.6% to –0.2%), Minas Gerais (from 8.3% to 6.5%) and Bahia (from -0.5% to -2.0%). On the other hand, Rio Grande do Sul, which remained on upward trend (3.0%) in the last two months, was the only area not to face deceleration between the two periods compared.