About a quarter of Brazil’s wealth was concentrated in eight municipalities in 2019, says IBGE

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Despite a reduction in the concentration of wealth, eight municipalities accounted for almost 25% of the Brazilian GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2019, according to data released on Friday (17) by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

Besides São Paulo (SP), with 10.3% of the sum of all goods and services produced in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), with 4.8%, Brasília (DF), with 3.7%; Belo Horizonte (MG), with 1.3%; Curitiba (PR), with 1.3% and, with 1.1% each, Manaus (AM), Porto Alegre (RS) and Osasco (SP) appear in prominence.

Together, the 25 largest municipalities accounted for 36.2% of the 2019 GDP. Of these, 11 are capital cities. According to IBGE’s National Accounts analyst, Luiz Antonio de Sá, the concentration is a historical characteristic of Brazil, formed long before the beginning of IBGE’s series.

“What we can observe, since 2002, is that the Brazilian economy is very concentrated in the capital cities. The sum of the 27, including Brasilia, represents almost one-third of the national economy. There is a trend towards deconcentration, but the participation of the capital cities is still very high,” points out the analyst.

When considering the 100 largest municipalities in terms of GDP value, they added up to more than half (55.2%) of Brazil’s GDP in 2019. In the relationship, the Southeast stands out, with 58 cities, which concentrated 35.3% of the national wealth.

SÃO PAULO

Alone, the city of São Paulo accounted for 10.3% of the national GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2019, totaling R$763.8 (US$135) billion. The municipality was one of those with the most significant gain in participation in the sum of all final goods and services produced by Brazil compared to 2018.

Although it increased its participation by 0.1 percentage points in comparison with the previous year, the São Paulo capital was the municipality that fell the most in contrast with the beginning of the historical series of the survey in 2002.

The loss of 2.3 percentage points in the 17 years is explained by the relative decrease in financial activities, insurance, and related services, as defined by the IBGE’s National Accounts analyst, Luiz Antonio de Sá.

“Since the beginning of the series, there has been a tendency for the concentration to decrease, although there are municipalities with large participation in the GDP, as is the case of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In this period, other municipalities began to occupy higher positions in GDP value due to the prominence in some economic activities, especially those linked to industry,” he explains.

“Some states had progress in energy generation, others in agriculture and cattle-raising. Therefore, the important activities for the economy impacted this gain in participation of the other municipalities. And, in the face of this advance, São Paulo’s participation is reduced,” adds Antonio de Sá.

After São Paulo, the municipality that lost the most participation in the GDP in 17 years was Rio de Janeiro (-1.5 percentage point). This fall occurred due to the reduction in the weight of the capital of Rio de Janeiro in the national industry.

The other cities with again in GDP participation in 2019, compared to 2018, were Maricá and Saquarema, in Rio de Janeiro, Parauapebas, in Pará, Brasilia, in the Federal District, and São José dos Pinhais, in Paraná, with an increase of 0.1 percentage point each.