Brazil’s economy grows by 4.6% in 2021, more than offsetting the slump in 2020

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s economy grew by 4.6% last year, the largest increase in 11 years, after suffering a historic slump in 2020 due to measures taken worldwide regarding the coronavirus, the government announced Friday.

The result more than offset the slump in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, when the South American country’s economy fell 3.9% – one of the smallest Covid-related declines in the world – after industry and trade were crippled for several months due to restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the virus.

According to data released Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), with a growth of 0.5% in the last quarter of 2021 compared to the third, the power managed to overcome the technical recession in which it sank last September, for two consecutive quarters of retreat.

Between October and December last year, the Brazilian economy grew by 1.6% compared to the same period in 2020.

The IBGE report indicates that the country’s GDP increased in 2021 compared to 2020, mainly due to the recovery of the services sector, which grew by 4.7% compared to 2020, and industry (4.5%), which together account for 90% of the country’s GDP.

Particularly noteworthy is the information and communications sector, which grew by 12.3% compared to 2020, transportation, which increased by 11.4%, and construction, which grew by 9.7% last year.

The agricultural sector, which started the year with positive results due to high commodity prices, ended 2021 with a decrease of 0.2%.

As for GDP per capita, the IBGE pointed out that it increased by 3.9% in real terms last year compared to 2020 (excluding inflation), reaching 40,688 reais ($8,138) per year.

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