RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian trade surplus decreased from US$58 (R$240) billion in 2018 to US$46.7 billion in 2019. Total trade flow fell 4.6 percent last year as a result of a 6.4 percent reduction in exports and a 2.1 percent drop in imports.
The data are from the Foreign Trade Indicator (ICOMEX), released on Friday, January 17th, by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV).
For exports, there was a 5.0 percent retraction in prices and 1.8 percent reduction in volume. In the case of imports, prices dropped 4.4 percent, but volume grew 2.4 percent.
Agriculture and the extractive industry were the main sources of increase in international reserves through trade in 2019, with surpluses of US$36.4 billion and US$35.3 billion, respectively. The manufacturing industry, however, saw a US$25.6 billion deficit.
In 2019, Brazil increased its exports to the United States (14.4 percent) and Mexico (8.8 percent). On the other hand, there was a reduction in products shipped to Argentina (-31.8 percent), the European Union (-10.6 percent) and China (-1.3 percent).
The volume imported increased only for products coming from the United States (10.7 percent) and China (3.2 percent). There were decreases in imports from Mexico (-13.0 percent), the European Union (-3.5 percent) and Argentina (-1.8 percent).