Brazil’s economy recorded its first decline in activity in 17 years in 2009, down by 0.2 percent, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). This marks the first annual decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 1992.
Brazil’s GDP fell to $1.770 trillion, or $9,263 per capita. Brazil has a total population of 199 million, as reported by IBGE. In 2008, Brazil’s GDP was $1.800 trillion."This is a good performance, considering that most countries experienced a significant decline in activity last year. Brazil achieved reasonable results, given that it was hit by the deepest global crisis in the last 80 years", said Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega at a press conference. The decline in economic activity is a result of the impact of the global crisis, which the South American giant felt most acutely in the early months of 2009. However, data for the fourth quarter of last year showed a strong recovery.
Thus, in the period from October to December 2009, GDP growth of 2.0 percent was recorded compared to the previous quarter, while compared to the same quarter of the previous year, during the peak of the crisis, it was even 4.3 percent higher, emphasizes IBGE. By the end of the year, a recovery in Brazilian industrial activity also began, although a 5.5 percent decline was recorded for the entire year of 2009. Agricultural activities were also reduced, by 5.2 percent. Only the service sector recorded growth, at 2.6 percent. Mantega expects Brazil’s economy to grow by more than 5.7 percent in 2010. His optimism is shared by the powerful Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), which stated on Thursday that IBGE’s data shows that the country has emerged from the crisis.(H)
