In the seasonally-adjusted series, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 1.0% in the first quarter of 2022 in relation to the fourth quarter of 2021. Compared with the same quarter of 2021, the GDP grew 1.7%. The cumulative index in the four quarters ended in March 2022 reached 4.7% compared with the four immediately previous quarters.

At current values, the GDP added up to R$2.249 trillion in the first quarter of 2022, being R$1.914 trillion relative to Value added (VA) at basic prices and R$335.3 billion to Product taxes net of subsidies .

In the first quarter of 2015, the investment rate was 18.7% of the GDP, below that reported in the same period last year (19.7%).

GDP rises 1.0% in relation to immediately previous quarter

In the seasonally-adjusted series, the GDP grew 1.0% in the comparison between the first quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2021. Agriculture dropped (-0.9%), Industry remained stable (0.1%) and Services rose (1.0%).

Among the industrial activities, Electricity and gas, water, sewage and waste management activities (6.6%), Manufacturing industries (1.4%) and Construction (0.8%) advanced. The only negative performance occurred in Mining and quarrying industries (-3.4%).

In Services, Other services (2.2%), Transportation, storage and mailing (2.1%), Trade (1.6%),  Real estate activities (0.7%) and Administration and public health and education (0.6%) rose. Information and communication (-5.3%) and Financial intermediation and insurance (-0.7%) dropped.

Under the point of view of expenditure, Household Consumption Expenditure (0.7%) grew, Government Consumption Expenditure (0.1%) remained stable and Gross Fixed Capital Formation (-3.5%) dropped.

In the foreign sector, Exports of Goods and Services rose 5.0%, whereas Imports of Goods and Services dropped 4.6% over the fourth quarter of 2021.

GDP grows 1.7% against Q1 2021

When compared with the same period last year, the GDP increased 1.7% in the first quarter of 2022. The Value Added at basic prices recorded a positive change of 1.9% and Product Taxes Net of Subsidies advanced 0.5%.

Agriculture fell 8.0% in relation to the same period a year ago. Some agricultural products, whose harvests are significant in the first quarter, reduced their annual production estimate and lost productivity: soybeans (-12.2%), rice (-8.5%), tobacco (-7.3%) and cassava (-2.7%). Corn, which also has a significant harvest in the quarter, gained productivity and grew its annual output, estimated at 27.5%. It should be emphasized that the estimate for Livestock showed a good performance along the first quarter of the year, highlighted by cattle.

Industry dropped 1.5%. In this context, Manufacturing industry (-4.7%) recorded the highest drop, mainly influenced by the manufacture of electrical machines and devices, fabricated metal products, rubber and plastic products, furniture and pharmaceuticals. Mining and quarrying industries (-2.4%) also retreated, affected by the drop in the extraction of ferrous ore, which surpassed the increase in the extraction of petroleum and gas.

Construction (9.0%), in turn, registered its fifth rise in a row. The rise in employment in that activity confirms its growth in relation to the previous year. The activity of Electricity and gas, water, sewage and waste management activities (7.6%) also grew in the period, favored by the lower production of energy in the thermoelectric plants in the period.

The value added of Services grew 3.7% in comparison with the same period of the previous year.  The activities that rose were Other services activities (12.6%), impacted by the upturn of the demand for face-to-face services, Transportation, storage and mailing (9.4%), Information and communication (5.5%), Administration, defense, public health and education, and social security (2.9%) and Real estate activities (0.3%). Financial, insurance and related services activities (-1.6%) and Trade (-1.5%) retracted.

Gross Fixed Capital Formation retreated 7.2% in the first quarter of 2022, after five consecutive quarters of growth. Besides Repetro in the first quarter of 2021, the performance was explained by the drop in the domestic production and in the imports of capital goods.

Household consumption expenditure increased 2.2%. This result was influenced by the upturn of demand for face-to-face services. Government consumption expenditure also rose (3.3%) in relation to the first quarter of 2021.

In the foreign sector, Exports of goods and services rose 81.%, whereas Imports of goods and services retreated 11.0% in the first quarter of 2022. Among the exports of goods, the sectors that mostly contributed to the positive results were: agriculture, food products, petroleum products and biofuels, and fabricated metal products. In imports of goods, the drop was mainly due to: chemicals, electrical machines and devices, basic metals and food products.

GDP grows 4.7% in the cumulative index in four quarters

The cumulative GDP of the four months ending in March 2022 grew 4.7% in relation to the four immediately previous quarters.  This rate resulted from the advances of 4.5% in the Value Added at basic prices and of 5.9% in the Product Taxes Net of Subsidies. The result of Value Added in this type of comparison reflected the performance of the following segments: Agriculture (-4,8%), Industry (3,3%) and Services (5,8%).

All the industrial activities positively changed: Construction (11.3%), Mining and quarrying industries (3.2%), Manufacturing industry (2.0%) and Electricity and gas, water, sewage and waste management (1.3%).

In Services, Transportation, storage and mailing (13.7%), Other services activities (12.9%), Information and communication (12.3%), Trade (4.0%), Administration, defense, public health and education, and social security (3,3%) and Real estate activities (1.3%) recorded positive figures. Only Financial activities, insurance and related services (-0.9%) dropped.

In the analysis of the demand, Household consumption expenditure, Government consumption expenditure and Gross fixed capital formation grew 4.6%, 3.8% and 10.1%, respectively. In the foreign sector, Exports of goods and services expanded 7.4%, whereas Imports of goods and services rose 7.0%.

Investment rate is 18.7% in Q1

In the first quarter of 2022, the investment rate was 18.7% of the GDP, below that reported in the same period last year (19.7%). 

The Integrated Economic Accounts and the Financial Account will not be released in the first quarter of 2022. The Balance of Payments, which is one of their major sources, was not published by the Central Bank of Brazil with data related to the month of March up to the closure of this release.

The savings rate is based on the Integrated Economic Accounts and, for this reason, is not released in this edition as well.