Brazil Grows in Q3, No Longer in Technical Recession

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.1 percent during the third quarter of 2014, removing the country from a technical recession, according to data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). A ‘technical recession’ occurs when the GDP falls for two consecutive quarters, which occurred in Brazil during the first (-0.2 percent) and the second (-0.6 percent) quarters of 2014.

In comparison to the same quarter last year, the Brazilian economy retreated by 0.2 percent. For the year the GDP accumulates a growth of 0.2 percent, while in the 12-month period ending in September growth is of 0.7 percent.

According to the IBGE the main factor for the increase in the GDP in this third quarter of 2014 was the industry, which grew by 1.7 percent. The highlights were the mining sector, with a growth of 2.2 percent and the construction sector with growth of 1.3 percent. Services also registered a growth, of 0.5 percent, while the agribusiness sector registered a retraction of 1.9 percent.

The latest data also shows demand grew by 0.1 percent, with investments and government spending increasing by 1.3 percent each while household consumption fell by 0.3 percent. In the three-month period between July and September exports grew by one percent while imports increased by 2.4 percent.

The market is already forecasting a weak economic growth for the country in 2014, with the latest Focus Bulletin released by the Central Bank estimating a GDP growth of only 0.2 percent this year. The Focus Bulletin is a survey conducted by Brazil Central Bank with more than one hundred financial institutions.