The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Monitor, calculated by the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Ibre/FGV) and released today (18), indicated a 0.8% drop in the Brazilian economy in May this year, compared to April , considering seasonally adjusted data. The pullback came after three consecutive months of expansion. In comparison with May 2021, economic activity grew 4.4% and, in the moving quarter ended in May this year, 3.7%.
According to the research coordinator, Juliana Trece, the industry, which had grown in the previous months, after a bad start to the year, showed a fall again. “Another important negative highlight was household consumption,” said Juliana.
In the current conjuncture, with inflation and high interest rates, the purchasing power of families falls. “This is reflected in the consumption of less essential products, such as semi-durables and durables, which lost strength and retracted in May.”
family consumption
Household consumption fell by 2.1% in May, compared to April. In the inter-annual monthly comparison, there was an increase of 4.7% in May and 5.8% in the moving quarter ended in May. In the quarterly comparison, all components grew, except for the consumption of durable goods. The Services item remains prominent among the components that grew.
The GDP Monitor also reveals that gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) grew by 1.6% in May, compared to the previous month. In the inter-annual comparison, there was a 2% retraction in the moving quarter ended in May. In this comparison, the only component in decline was machinery and equipment (-6.9%), accounting for the negative interannual result of GFCF.
Foreign trade
According to the GDP Monitor, exports of goods and services fell by 7.6% in May compared to April. In the inter-annual comparison, there was a retraction of 5.4% in the moving quarter ended in May. The negative performance of exports was largely attributed to the drop in foreign sales of agricultural products and mineral extraction.
Imports of goods and services also fell by 1.6% in May, compared to April. In the interannual comparison, the retraction was of 5.1% in the moving quarter ended in May. The evaluation of the data reveals that, although the import of services was the only one with a positive result in the month, the fall in the import of intermediate goods was the main responsible for the result.
Values
In monetary terms, the accumulated GDP estimated until May 2022, in current values, reached R$ 3 trillion 830 billion and 873 million.
The GDP Monitor also shows that the investment rate in May 2022 was 19.3%, in the series at current values. The result is higher than the average quarterly investment rate considering the period since January 2000 (18%), also being above the average investment rate considering the period since January 2015 (16.4%).
