GDP has best Q3 since 2013

Buoyed by the measures taken to reorganise the economy and make Brazil more efficient and less bureaucratic, the economy has grown again. In the third quarter of the year, GDP grew by 1.4% when compared to the same period of last year. This was the best performance of the quarter since 2013. The numbers were published Friday (1 December) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

In practice, this means that Brazil has come out of the crisis, started to produce more wealth, and has now been able to create more jobs and income for the population. Between July and September alone, the country generated R$ 1.64 trillion in wealth. Year-to-date, total output has reached R$ 4.85 trillion.

A growing GDP represents more factories in operation, more sales in commerce and more production in the field. For citizens, this also means more job opportunities. All major sectors of the economy grew in the period. Agribusiness grew the most, registering a 9.1% increase compared to Q3 2016. Industry GDP increased by 0.4% and services grew by 1%.

More comfort for families

The good GDP numbers were also influenced by household consumption, which grew 2.2% year-over-year. According to Rebeca Pallis, the researcher responsible for collecting the numbers that measure GDP, the fall of inflation returned purchasing power to the families, who consumed more and boosted sales. Retail GDP increased by 1.6% in the period.

She further argues that the reduction in interest rates and the growth in employment and real worker income, as well as the fall in household indebtedness, have all contributed to this positive scenario. "All this contributes positively to household consumption and consequently to commerce, which was the activity with the most prominent growth in the quarter", she added.