Brazil’s external accounts showed a negative balance of US$5.88 billion in October 2024, according to external sector statistics released this Monday (25) by the Central Bank (BC). In October 2023, the result presented was a surplus, at US$451 million.
Based on the interannual comparison, in terms of trade – exports and imports – the result presented was a drop of US$ 5.1 billion in the surplus. As a result, the trade balance was in surplus at US$3.44 billion.
From the point of view of primary income (interest payments, profits and dividends from companies), there was an increase of US$1.1 billion in the deficit, totaling a negative balance of US$5.757 billion.
In the case of services and secondary income accounts (generated in one economy and distributed to another, such as donations and dollar remittances, without counterpart services or goods), they presented a deficit of US$3.9 billion and a surplus of US$ 330 million respectively. According to the monetary authority, the levels are “similar to those of October 2023”.
The BC reports that the current account deficit in the 12 months ending in October 2024 totaled US$49.2 billion (2.23% of GDP), compared to US$42.8 billion (1.94% of GDP) in the previous month and US$26.3 billion (1.24% of GDP) in October 2023.
The trade balance of goods was in surplus, at US$3.4 billion in October 2024. In the same month of 2023, the balance was also positive, but at US$8.6 billion.
In the case of exports of goods, it totaled US$ 29.6 billion – a result that represents a drop of 0.6%. Imports of goods totaled US$ 26.2 billion (increase of 23.5%). The services account totaled a deficit of US$ 3.9 billion in October 2024, a result also very close to that obtained in October of the year past.
It is worth remembering that deficit situations can be the result of a heated economy, to the point of seeking products and services abroad – which also moves the economy internally.
Direct investments in the country
According to external sector statistics, direct investments in the country (IDP) presented a total of US$5.7 billion in net inflows in October this year. In October 2023, the IDP was at US$3.1 billion.
“In the month, there were net inflows of US$6.8 billion in capital participation and net outflows of US$1 billion in intercompany operations”, details the BC. According to the entity, the IDP accumulated in 12 months totaled US$66 billion (3.00% of GDP) in October 2024, compared to US$63.4 billion (2.87% of GDP) in the previous month; and US$63.8 billion (3.01% of GDP) in October 2023″, detailed the monetary authority.
International reserves
Brazil reduced its international reserves by US$5.9 billion, in the comparison between October 2023 and October 2024, remaining at US$366.1 billion. According to the BC, variations in price and parities contributed to reducing the stock of reserves by US$4.3 billion and US$1.8 billion, respectively. “On the other hand, interest income contributed to increasing the stock by US$767 million”, he added.
Revision
The BC revised the current transaction deficit accumulated between January and September 2024, going from US$37.3 billion to US$37.7 billion. This increase of US$400 million is due to the updating of values referring to the trade balance of goods, collected by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex).
Net IDP inflows were also revised, from US$56.4 billion to US$55.6 billion. Finally, there was also a review of active commercial credits, from US$6 billion to US$2.1 billion. This change is due to the incorporation of data from transactions settled abroad.
