FX.co ★ Brazil’s GDP Grows Below Forecasts in Q1

Brazil's economy exhibited a year-on-year growth of 2.9% in the first quarter of 2025. This marks a slowdown from the previous quarter's growth rate of 3.6% and falls short of the anticipated 3.2% by market analysts. The sectors of construction, services, the public sector, and industry all experienced a deceleration in growth, reporting increases of 3.4%, 2.1%, 0.5%, and 2.4% respectively, compared to 5.1%, 4.7%, 1.7%, and 2.5% in the previous quarter. However, the agriculture sector saw a significant rebound, achieving a growth rate of 10.2%, up from a contraction of 1.5% in the preceding quarter, while utilities also showed signs of recovery, with a growth of 1.6% following a previous decline of 3.5%. On the demand front, household consumption slowed to 2.6% from 3.7%, government expenditure reduced slightly to 1.1% from 1.2%, and fixed investment moderated to 9.1% from 9.4%. In terms of net trade, exports increased by 1.2% compared to a decline of 0.7% in the fourth quarter, and imports rose by 14%, slightly down from the 16% growth observed previously.