After being punished by the pandemic, the service sector in Brazil increased by 1% in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the three immediately previous months, informed the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) this Thursday (2).
The result integrates the calculation of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The service sector is the main one from the point of view of supply, that is, of the productive segments of the economy.
The branch accounts for about 70% of the national indicator. It encompasses a wide variety of companies, from small businesses to financial and educational institutions. It is also the main employer in the country.
With the health crisis, the provision of services suffered a severe blow from 2020, as it brings together activities that depend on the circulation of consumers. Restaurants, bars, hotels, beauty salons and events are part of this list.
Over the past few months, the scenario has changed with the advance of vaccination against Covid-19, which allowed the lifting of restrictions on the movement of people. Thus, there was a resumption of consumption of services in the country, economists indicate.
The recovery of the sector, however, is not immune to risks in 2022. Escalating inflation, high interest rates and lower incomes of Brazilians play against the improvement of the segment over the next few months.
Industry, another major GDP sector, recorded a slight change of 0.1% in the first quarter of this year, compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the IBGE.
Part of the factories still suffers from a shortage of inputs, due to the mismatch of production chains in the pandemic. In addition, the rise in raw material prices also challenges the industrial segment.
Agriculture, third of the largest sectors of the GDP from the perspective of supply, dropped 0.9% in the first quarter, compared to the three immediately previous months, according to the IBGE.
Agricultural commodities remained at a high level at the start of 2022 on the international market. Meanwhile, on the national scene, agriculture suffered losses at the beginning of the year due to the adverse weather in part of the country.
Heavy rains in the Southeast and drought in the South damaged crops, affecting the production of different crops.
Despite the negative weather effects, Brazil is still expected to record a record crop of 261.5 million tons of cereals, legumes and oilseeds in 2022, according to the IBGE’s April projection. The data was released in May by the institute.
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