In 2020, Brazil had 1,339,460 commercial companies, which totaled 1.5 million stores across the country. In that year, the sector employed 9.8 million workers, who were paid R$ 241.6 billion in salaries, withdrawals and other remuneration. The data are part of the Annual Trade Survey (PAC), released today (17) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Influenced by the covid-19 pandemic, the result reveals a drop in comparison with the numbers recorded by the previous survey. The total number of companies fell by 7.8% – in 2019, 1.4 million companies were accounted for in Brazil, with 1.6 million stores.
There was also a real reduction in wages, that is, discounting inflation, of 5.7%. In the 2019 PAC, there were 10.2 million workers in commerce who were paid BRL 246.4 billion in wages and other remuneration.
There was a 9.9% drop in the number of companies in the trade of vehicles, parts and motorcycles and of 8.7% in the retail trade, in 2020, compared to the previous year. Only wholesale trade showed an increase of 1.3% in the same comparison. The total number of local units (stores) also fell by 7%.
Revenue
The 2020 PAC shows that the largest share of net operating revenue – R$ 4.3 trillion – was generated in wholesale trade (47.4%), followed by retail trade (43.9%) and trade in vehicles, parts and motorcycles (8.7%). In the ten years between 2011 and 2020, the automotive sector lost its representativeness, going from 14.7% to 8.7% of share in net operating revenue in the period. Wholesale trade, on the other hand, increased its share by 3.6 percentage points, from 43.8% to 47.4%, while retail trade advanced 2.4 percentage points (from 41.5% to 43.9 %).
Of the 22 groups of commercial activities, the three that stood out most in the composition of net operating revenue in 2020 were hypermarkets and supermarkets (13.6%), showing an increase of 3%; the wholesale trade of fuels and lubricants (10.1%), although with retraction of 1.1%; and the wholesale trade of food products, beverages and tobacco (8.5%), with an increase of 1%.
Margin
Analyzing the commercialization margin, which is the difference between net resale revenue and the cost of resold goods, commercial companies obtained R$ 942.7 billion in 2020. Of these companies, the largest share of the commercialization margin, of R$ 511.7 billion, was obtained by the retail trade. Wholesale trade followed, with R$364.5 billion; and the sale of vehicles, parts and motorcycles, with R$ 66.5 billion.
In 2020, the eight largest retail companies accounted for 8.9% of total net resale revenue, which corresponds to a reduction of 1.4 percentage points compared to the results obtained in 2011. This reduction in concentration was observed in the segments of trade in vehicles, parts and motorcycles (from 5.3% to 3.4%), and of wholesale trade (from 20.7% to 15.2%). Retail trade showed an expansion of market concentration in 10 years, evolving from 8.8% in 2011 to 10.8% in 2020.
Among the 22 groups of activities that make up these segments, the highlight is the wholesale trade of fuels and lubricants (61.1%), with a loss of 11.5 pp in the indicator between 2011 and 2020, but still maintaining the leadership in the ranking of concentration in the ten-year series of the survey. The second position, in 2020, was occupied by the retail trade of computers, communication and household items (43.2%), which rose from the third to the second position, with an increase of 11.2 percentage points in concentration. The third place was the wholesale trade of goods in general (33.7%), which showed a small reduction in the concentration indicator in ten years (1.3 percentage points)
Regions
The regional analysis reveals that the Southeast Region had, in 2020, the highest gross resale revenue in the country (49.4%); number of local units (47.7%); employed personnel (50.7%); and salaries, withdrawals and other remuneration (55.6%). The ranking remained unchanged as of 2011 and is completed, in order, by the South, Northeast, Midwest and North regions.
The survey points out, however, that the Southeast was the region that lost the most share in ten years in each of these components, with emphasis on the reduction of 3.5 percentage points in revenue share.
In the Southeast, São Paulo (60.8%) leads the way, followed by Minas Gerais (19.1%), Rio de Janeiro (13.7%) and Espírito Santo (6.3%). Between 2011 and 2020, the highlight was the increase in the share of Minas Gerais (+1.7 percentage points), while Rio de Janeiro lost representation (-2.1 percentage points).
Regarding commercial activities, although most of the gross resale revenue in the Southeast Region was concentrated in wholesale trade (47.6%), the 2020 PAC recorded a prevalence of retail trade in Rio de Janeiro. This activity represented 57.7% of the state’s gross resale revenue.
