The Gross Domestic Product - GDP hit R$6.583 trillion in 2017, a rise of 1.3% over 2016. The per capita GDP reached R$31,833.50, a rise of 0.5% in relation to the previous year.

Agriculture grew 14.2%, Industry retreated 0.5% and Services increased 0.8%.

After two consecutive months of drop, the consumption of the households rose 2.1%. On the other hand, the final consumption expenditure of the government retreated 0.7%.

In 2017, the Gross Fixed Capital Formation - GFCF fell 2.6% and the investment rate (14.6%) hit its lowest level since 1995.

This is part of the information that comprises the System of National Accounts 2010-2017, 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 on the right side.

In 2017, the Gross Domestic Product - GDP grew once again (1.3%), after a cumulative drop of 6.7% in the 2015-2016 biennium. At current values, the GDP was R$6.583 trillion in 2017, which corresponded to a per capita GDP of R$31,833.50. The growth of the per capita GDP was of 0.5%, taking its level closer to that registered in 2010, in real terms. The growth of the GDP in 2017 was the result of an increase of 1.3% in the Gross Value Added - GVA and of 1.8% in the Product taxes net of subsidies.

Having risen 14.2% in the year, Agriculture accounted for 0.8 percentage points of the increase of 1.3% in the GVA. The Services sector contributed with 0.6 percentage points, whereas Industry recorded a negative contribution of -0.1 percentage points. 

The major products responsible for the increase in the production of Agriculture were corn and soybeans, which rose, in volume, 57.0% and 19.6%, respectively. The exports of agricultural products and their derivatives were the major responsible for the increase in the production, having risen 37.6% in the case of corn, 32.1% in the case of soybeans and 23.4% for the whole set of agricultural products.

Industry posted the fourth annual drop in a row (-0.5%). Of the groups that comprise Industry, Mining and quarrying industries, Manufacturing industries and Electricity and gas rose in 2017, being the drop in the whole Industry solely explained by the retreat of 9.2% in the GVA of the Construction activity.

The Manufacturing industry grew 2.3% in the year, interrupting a series of three consecutive years of drop. The activities that mostly contributed for the growth of the Manufacturing industry were the manufacture of computer equipment and cars, which increased, in volume, 23.3% and 18.5%, respectively. Despite the growth reported in 2017, in terms of volume of the Gross Value Added, the Manufacturing industry was still 15.0% below its top level reported in 2013.

In 2017, the only activity groups of the economy in which the gross value added retreated were Construction (-9.2%) and Financial activities and insurance (-1.1%). The activity of Construction maintained a series of negative results since 2014, which resulted in a cumulative drop of 27.3% in volume of the Gross Value Added of the activity, as well as in the loss of nearly one third of its share in the GDP (6.4% in 2013 against 4.3% in 2017). On the side of the uses, the major responsible for this reduction in the production of the activity was the drop in investments, noticed in every segment of Construction. In 2017, the investments in Buildings fell 8.3%, in Infrastructure works, 11.8%, and in Specialized services, 7.2%.

The activities of Services, in turn, grew 0.8%. Within this group of activities, the major contribution for the growth of the GVA came from the activity of Trade which, after two consecutive years of drops, registered an increase of 2.3% and contributed with 0.3 percentage points for the growth of 1.3% of the Gross Value Added of the economy. The increase in the household consumption of products like mobile phones (+13.0%), TV sets, radio and sound devices (+17.7%), house appliances (+10.6%) and computers and peripherals (+15.8%) in relation to the depressed level in 2016 exerted a relevant contribution to the performance of Trade.

Household consumption grows 2.1%

In 2017, the final consumption expenditure rose 1.3% in volume. The household consumption, which has the biggest weight in the final demand, representing 63.1% of the GDP, grew 2.1%, after two consecutive years of drop (-3.8% and -3.2%, respectively). The reduced level of consumption also resulted in a variation of only 3.3% in the price of the goods and services consumed by the households in 2017, the smallest variation reported since 2000. Conversely, the final consumption expenditure of the government, which encompasses the expenditures with goods and services supplied by the government to the public, fell 0.7% in 2017.

Unlike 2016, most of the groups of products that comprise the final consumption expenditure of the households recorded positive changes in 2017. Among the groups of products that mostly contributed for the increase in the household consumption, the highlights were household articles (+7.3%), communication (+3.9%) and food and beverages (+3.3%).

Gross Fixed Capital Formation retreats 2.6% and adds up to R$959 billion

The gross fixed capital formation - GFCF of the Brazilian economy added up to R$959 billion in 2017. Its change in volume was of -2.6%, a smaller drop than that of 2016 (-12.1%). Even so, the investment rate (GFCF/GDP) reported in 2017 (14.6%) was the smallest in the series started in 1995.

Construction was the only component of the GFCF with a retraction in volume in 2017 (-8.7%). Unlike 2016, all the other components recorded a positive change: Machinery and equipment (5.2%), Products of intellectual property (3.4%) and Other fixed assets (0.7%).

In 2017, the contribution of the foreign balance to the GDP was negative (-0.2 percentage points). The exports of goods and services increased 4.9% in volume, less than the imports, which posted a rise of 6.7% after three years of drop.

Net borrowing of national economy retreats 31.1%

In 2017, net borrowing of the Brazilian economy was of R$67.4 billion, a nominal drop of 31.1% in relation to the previous year (R$97.8 billion). This improvement was basically influenced by the performance of the foreign trade and by the decline in the net property income sent to the rest of the world. The external balance of goods and services was of R$47.3 billion, a nominal increase of 88.8% (R$22.2 billion). On the other hand, the net delivery of property income retreated R$134.0 billion in 2017, contributing with R$10.0 billion to the reduction of net borrowing in Brazil.  

The sector of non-financial enterprises showed net lending in 2017 (R$5.0 billion).  Normally non-financial enterprises suffer strong adjustments in adverse macroeconomic environments, mainly in the intermediary consumption and investments, thus reducing their net borrowing. However, net borrowing is very common in this sector, even in adverse scenarios. In the 2015-2017 triennium, the cumulative net lending of non-financial enterprises was of R$52.5 billion.

The production of the financial intermediation services indirectly measured - FISIM – services associated with granting credit – of the financial enterprises registered a nominal drop of 4.3% over 2016. On the other hand, the production of financial services directly measured – services associated with tariff paying, etc. – increased 4.4%, partly offsetting the smaller volume of credit. The combination of these two factors contributed to the moderate growth of the GVA of the institutional sector of financial enterprises.

The production of the government sector, assessed by its production costs, hit R$1.3 trillion in 2017. The intermediate consumption recorded a nominal drop of 2.0% in relation to the previous year, reaching R$341.0 billion, whereas the Gross Value Added was R$1,001.0 billion, which represented 5.9% of nominal growth over 2016. With this rise, the share of this sector in the total gross value added of the economy hit 17.7%, above the rate of 17.4% in 2016.

Concerning the uses and maintaining the downward trend of the last two years, the gross fixed capital formation of the government changed from R$121.2 billion in 2016 to R$109.2 billion in 2017, posting a decrease of nearly 9.9% in nominal terms. Such movement was especially influenced by the drop in investments in the municipal sphere. The final consumption expenditure of the government increased 3.9% in nominal terms.

The public sector net borrowing - PSNB grew from R$448.4 billion in 2016 to R$465.2 billion in 2017, influenced, among other factors, by the nominal increase of 13.4% in the payment of social benefits, against 5.1% in the receipt of effective social contributions, highlighted by other benefits of social security (+21.4%).

This category was impacted by the release of withdrawals in the inactive accounts of the Guaranteed Severance Fund - FGTS, according to the Law no. 13,446 of May 25, 2017. Conversely, the benefits of social assistance – continued payment benefits, Bolsa Família, etc. – grew 5.4% in the year.

Household savings posts nominal increase of 6.4%

The share of compensation in the available income of the households grew up to 2011, when it hit the top level of 65.3% of the total. All the subsequent years registered a drop in this relation, which was of 62.1% in 2017.

The consumed income, i.e., the parcel of the final consumption of the households in the available income, had been dropping since 2015 (90.3%). In 2017, the share of the final consumption fell to 88.3%. 

Between 2014 and 2016, the share of the savings in the available income increased from 10.1% to 12.1%, whereas it dropped to 12.0% in 2017.

In 2017, the social benefits received by the households grew 13.4%, influenced by the release of the withdrawals of the inactive accounts of the FGTS, while the social contributions paid by the sector increased only 2.6%. This contributed to a nominal increase of 5.5% in the final consumption expenditure and of 21.0% in the net lending of this sector, which changed from R$168.7 billion in 2016 to R$204.2 billion in 2017.