Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), i.e. the sum of all goods and services produced in the country, has ended the first three quarters of the year with an accumulated growth rate of 5.3%, compared with the same period of 2006. The result is the highest for the period since 2004, when the expansion stood at 6.1%.
The industrial sector led the increase with a 5.1% expansion, services grew 4.7% and agriculture increased 4.3%.
From the second to the third quarter, the economy expanded 1.7% to reach 645.2 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 365.5 billion), of which 551.6 billion reais (US$ 312.5) consisted of value added to the economy, and 93 billion reais (US$ 52.6 billion) consisted of tax collected.
During the period, agriculture was a highlight, with a 7.1% expansion, followed by industry, which grew 1.8%, and the services sector, with 1.2%.
Compared with the third quarter of 2006, the economy grew 5.7%. Using the same basis for comparison, the highlight was agriculture, which expanded 9.2%, followed by industry, with 5%, and services, with 4.8%.
The figures were disclosed today, December 12, by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Brazil and Portugal
Brazil and Portugal bilateral trade grew 13% between January and November this year compared with the same period of 2006, to reach US$ 1.9 billion.
According to data supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), Brazilian exports to Portugal increased 16.2% in comparison with the previous year, up to US$ 1.6 billion.
Exports from Portugal to Brazil recorded an 8% rise, to stand at US$ 308.4 million. Last month, Brazil sold to Portugal the equivalent of US$ 137.4 million, whereas Portuguese exports to the Brazilian market totaled US$ 42.5 million.
The main Portuguese products sold to Brazil in November were cod, olive oil, wines, cashew nuts and pears. The highlights of the Brazilian export basket to Portugal were oil, corn, shoes, wood, meat and aluminum alloys.
