How big are the economies of Brazilian states?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – It is known that São Paulo is the largest economy, but which is the smallest? Which are the main states? How much of Brazilian wealth is concentrated among the large states?

Has there been much change in recent years in how much each Brazilian region represents in the overall national economy? And which has the highest per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? How large is the inequality gap between the country’s largest and lowest per capita GDP?

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) has just released the so-called 2019 Regional Accounts, the survey showing the economic performance of each of the 27 federal states that year, in a pre-pandemic context. At that time, GDP had been growing in 22 of the 27 federal states.

São Paulo is the largest economy among Brazilian states and accounts for 31.8% of the national GDP, with R$1.48 trillion (US$272 billion). At the other end is Roraima, with a share of only 0.2% of Brazil’s wealth, with R$14.29 billion.

Nine Brazilian States have economies below 1% of GDP, in addition to Roraima: Paraíba (0.9%), Alagoas (0.8%), Piauí (0.7%), Rondônia (0.6%), Sergipe (0.6%), Tocantins (0.5%), Amapá (0.2%) and Acre (0.2%). Rio de Janeiro, the second most wealthy state, is only about one-third the size of leader São Paulo.

RANKING OF FEDERAL STATES BY ECONOMIC SIZE IN 2019

Brazil GDP current value: R$7.389 billion

1. São Paulo, 31.8% (R$2.348 billion)
2. Rio de Janeiro, 10.6% (R$779.9 million)
3. Minas Gerais, 8.8% (R$651.9 million)
4. Rio Grande do Sul, 6.5% (R$482.5 million)
5. Paraná, 6.3% (R$466.4 million)
6. Santa Catarina, 4.4% (R$323.3 million)
7. Bahia, 4%, (R$293.2 million)
8. Goiás, 2.8% (R$208.7 million)
9. Pernambuco, 2.7% (R$197.9 million)
10. Pará, 2.4% (R$178.4 million)

FIVE STATES ACCOUNT FOR ALMOST TWO-THIRDS OF THE ECONOMY

Five Brazilian states alone account for almost two-thirds (64%) of the Brazilian economy: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, and Paraná. The size of the São Paulo economy alone is equivalent to the sum of the other 22 federal states.

In the period between 2002 and 2019, there was a loss in the share of these 5 largest economies, but the other 22 states accounted for only 36% of the whole national wealth in 2019.

The Midwest was the region gaining the most share in recent years.

The Southeast lost its share in the Brazilian economy between 2002 and 2019, but it still accounts for over half of what is generated nationwide (53%). Three regions gained a larger share in the national GDP in the period – Midwest, North, and South – but the first grew the most, favored by agriculture and livestock.

The highest per capita GDP among states is the Federal District’s, at R$90,742.75. The figure is more than 6 times higher than Maranhão’s, which is the lowest in the whole country, at R$13,757.94. The figure registered by the Federal District is also twice that of states like Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina and 2.6 times the Brazilian average (R$35,161.70).

The per capita GDP is the total value of GDP divided by the number of inhabitants of a given location. The indicator works as a kind of thermometer of the population’s living standards, despite its limitations due to the country’s inequalities.

PER CAPITA GDP

1. Federal District, R$90,752
2. São Paulo, R$51,140
3. Rio de Janeiro, R$45,174
4. Santa Catarina, R$45,118
5. Rio Grande do Sul, R$42,406
6. Paraná, R$40,788
7. Mato Grosso, R$40,787
8. Mato Grosso do Sul, R$38,482
9. Espirito Santo, R$34,177
10. Minas Gerais, R$30,794