Brazil's economy annually expands 2.5% in 1st quarter

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Brazil’s economy annually grew 2.5% in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period of 2023, according to figures released Tuesday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The figure was higher than the estimate of a 2.2% increase, while South America's biggest economy annually expanded by 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The industry and services sectors expanded 2.8% and 3% year-on-year, respectively, but the agriculture sector contracted 3% on an annual basis, according to the IBGE figures.

On a quarterly basis, South America’s biggest economy expanded 0.8% in the January-March period of 2024, compared to the October-December of 2023.

While that figure came in line with market expectations, it showed a strong recovery from the 0.1% quarterly contraction in the fourth quarter of last year.

In the first quarter of this year, the agriculture sector managed to see an expansion of 11.3%, followed by the services sector with a gain of 1.4%.