RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The demand for industrial goods in the Brazilian economy dropped 1.2% in March, compared to February, according to an indicator released today, May 6th, by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA).
The IPEA Indicator of Apparent Consumption of Industrial Goods is updated monthly and measures the consumption of manufactured goods in Brazil, be they produced by local industry or imported.
According to the survey, both domestic production and imports fell in March. The domestic production of industrial goods for the domestic market fell by 3.9%. The volume of imported industrial goods dropped 0.4%.
In 12 months, the apparent consumption of industrial goods has accumulated a 4.4% drop. Nevertheless, the accumulated consumption from March 2020 to March 2021 posted an increase of 12.9%.
The drop in the consumption of industrial goods in March 2021 in relation to February was marked by the performance of the durable consumer goods sector, in which the retraction reached 8.2%.
When broken down by industry sectors, only 8 out of the 22 posted an increase in demand. The survey also reports that the 6.1% drop in extractive industries was more pronounced than the 2.1% drop in the manufacturing industries.