BRAZIL Q2 2012 GDP UP 0.4 PERCENT OVER Q1 2012

Brazilian economy beginning to respond to government stimuli, says Finance Minister, forecasting annualized growth rate around 4% by end 2012

BRASILIA (31 August 2012) - The Federative Republic of Brazil announced today that its 2012 second quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.4 percent over the first quarter of the same year in the seasonally adjusted series (1.6 percent in annualized rates), according to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). National production of goods and services amounted to R$ 1.101 trillion (approximately US$ 561.2 billion, using the Q2 2012 average exchange rate).

“Brazil’s second quarter results show that the Brazilian economy is gradually picking up. We are already observing a recovery in investments in the second half of this year. The domestic market remains dynamic and vigorous, contrarily to what we are observing in other parts of the world. Despite the adverse external environment, the Brazilian economy has been reacting positively to the various countercyclical measures adopted by the Brazilian government,” said Finance Minister Guido Mantega. "By the end of this year, we expect Brazil to be growing at an annualized rate of around 4 percent," he declared.

The economic growth witnessed in the second quarter of 2012 is primarily attributed to a 4.9 percent growth in the agriculture sector compared to the first quarter of 2012, followed by the services sector, with a 0.7 percent increase. The industrial sector showed a 2.5 percent decrease. 

Brazil reported a 1.1 percent increase in government consumption over this period. In addition, an expansion of 0.6 percent in household consumption was registered while gross fixed capital formation decreased by 0.7 percent. 

2Q 2012 Year-Over-Year Performance

Brazil’s economy recorded a 0.5 percent increase for the second quarter of 2012 compared to the second quarter of 2011. The agriculture sector recorded a 1.7 percent year-on-year increase. The services sector increased 1.5 percent and the industrial sector showed a 2.4 percent decrease.

Also over this period, Brazil reported a 3.1 percent growth in government consumption, a 2.4 percent increase in household consumption, and a contraction of 3.7 percent in gross fixed capital formation.

Four Quarter Performance

The accumulated GDP for the four quarters ending in the second quarter of 2012 grew 1.2 percent against the previous four quarters. Over this period, the GDP report showed 1.6 percent growth in the services sector, followed by the agriculture sector, with 1.5 percent growth. The industrial sector showed a decrease of 0.4.

During this period, household consumption increased by 2.5 percent, government consumption increased by 2.2 percent and gross fixed capital formation decreased by 0.3 percent.

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About IBGE:  The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is the independent and autonomous agency responsible for statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil.

About SECOM: The Secretariat for Social Communication (SECOM) of the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil is responsible for coordinating the public relations activities for the government of Brazil. For more information on the Federative Republic of Brazil, please visit www.brasil.gov.br. The official social media accounts for the Brazilian State are on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/BrazilGovNews/ and twitter.com/BrazilGovNews.