BRASILIA: Brazil’s economy grew in the third quarter by the most on record as the easing of anti-coronavirus lockdown measures triggered a strong rebound in activity across most sectors, especially industry and services, while fixed investment jumped sharply.
The rebound from the worst of the pandemic prompted a 7.7% increase in gross domestic product from the prior quarter, government statistics agency IBGE said on Thursday, less than the 9.0% median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
That meant Latin America’s largest economy shrank 3.9% from the same three-month period a year ago, more than the 3.5% decline forecast in a Reuters poll.
The third quarter rebound means Brazil’s economy is now the size it was in late 2016. The record second-quarter plunge had shrunk the economy to its size over a decade ago, in 2009.
The recovery was broad-based: industry grew 14.8%, government spending 3.5%, household consumption 7.6%, and fixed investment 11.0%. Services, which account for over two thirds of all activity, and which grew by 6.3%, IBGE said.
Agriculture contracted slightly in the quarter by 0.5%.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor