The country’s external accounts recorded a negative balance in 2024, reaching US$55.966 billion, the Central Bank (BC) reported this Friday (24), in Brasília. The value represents 2.55% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, the sum of goods and services produced in the country). In 2023, the deficit was US$24.516 million (1.12% of GDP) in current transactions, which are purchases and sales of goods and services and income transfers with other countries.
“In general, what motivated this was the increase in demand for goods and services from abroad, which can be seen in the trade balance data and the services account”, explained the deputy head of the BC Statistics Department, Renato Baldini .
The worsening in the interannual comparison is the result of the US$ 26.1 billion drop in the trade surplus, mainly due to the increase in imports. Also contributing to the negative balance in current transactions was the increase in the deficit in services, at US$9.8 billion. The results were partially offset by the reduction of US$4.1 billion in the primary income deficit (interest payments and company profits and dividends) and the increase in the secondary income surplus, US$367 million.
According to the Central Bank, current transactions have a very robust scenario and were showing a tendency to reduce the deficit, which was reversed from March 2024 with the expansion of domestic demand. Even so, the external deficit is financed by long-term capital, mainly direct investments in the country, which have good quality flows and a record stock of US$ 1.5 trillion.
Last year’s results were released by the BC with the consolidation of data from December 2024, when current transactions had a negative result of US$9.033 billion, compared to a deficit of US$5.587 billion in December 2023.
Trade balance and services
In the year, exports of goods totaled US$339.847 billion, a reduction of 1.2% compared to 2023. Meanwhile, imports totaled US$273.629 billion, an increase of 8.8% year-on-year. With the results, the trade balance closed with a surplus of US$66.218 billion last year, compared to a positive balance of US$92.275 billion in 2023.
The deficit in the services account – international travel, transportation, equipment rental and insurance, among others – totaled US$49.707 billion in 2024, an increase of 24.7% compared to 2023.
According to the BC, there is growth in the services trade chain, with account diversification. In the interannual comparison, one of the biggest increases – 58% – was in the deficit in intellectual property services, linked to streaming and sale of softwaretotaling US$8.683 billion. Telecommunications, computing and information services, also driven by operations via digital platforms, reached US$7.158 billion.
Another highlight is net transport expenses, which totaled US$ 15.057 billion, as a result of increases in trade flows and freight prices.
In the case of international travel, in 2024, the deficit in the account closed at US$7.484 billion, resulting from US$7.341 billion in revenue (which are the expenses of foreigners traveling to Brazil) and US$14.825 billion in expenses by Brazilians abroad.
According to Baldini, travel revenue – from tourist spending in the country – in 2024 is the record for the historical series started in 1995. Expenses were the highest since 2019, when Brazilians spent US$17.6 billion on trips outside the country. country.
Lace
In 2024, the deficit in primary income – profits and dividends, interest payments and salaries – reached US$75.403 billion, 5.1% below that recorded in 2023. Normally, this account is in deficit, as there are more investments from foreigners in Brazil – and they remit profits outside the country – than from Brazilians abroad.
The secondary income account – generated in one economy and distributed to another, as donations and dollar remittances, without counterpart services or goods – had a positive result of US$2.925 billion last year, against a surplus of US$2.558 billion in 2023.
Financing
Net inflows in direct investments in the country (IDP) rose 13.8% year-on-year. The IDP totaled US$71.070 billion (3.24% of GDP) in 2024, compared to US$62.442 billion in 2023, the result of net inflows of US$60.074 billion in capital participation and US$10.996 billion in intercompany operations.
When the country records a negative balance in current transactions, it needs to cover the deficit with investments or loans abroad. The best form of financing the negative balance is the IDP, because the resources are invested in the productive sector and tend to be long-term investments.
In the case of portfolio investments in the domestic market, there was a net outflow of US$4.287 billion in 2024, made up of net outflows of US$17.115 billion in shares and investment funds and net inflows of US$12.827 billion in debt securities.
The stock of international reserves reached US$329.730 billion at the end of 2024. At the end of 2023, reserves were at US$355.034 billion.
