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The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released the list of the country's largest economies, for the year 2019. Bahia, once again, stood out in the agricultural sector. São Desidério, in the west of the state, has established itself as the largest cotton producer in the country and also as the largest agricultural GDP in Brazil.
That year, the municipality recorded a gross value of R$1,6 billion, a significant drop compared to 2018, when the value generated by São Desideriana agriculture was budgeted at R$2,5 billion. Even with the 36,5% drop, leadership was maintained in 2019. The indicator represents the sum (in monetary values) of all final goods and services produced in the municipality, whose main economic activity is agriculture, responsible for moving almost 70 % of the local market.
Behind São Desidério are Sorriso, in Mato Grosso, with a value of R$1,469 billion; and Rio Verde, in Goiás, with R$1,467 billion, occupying 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. Other municipalities in Bahia that also appeared in the same list lost some positions in the national ranking of agricultural GDP, as is the case of Formosa do Rio Preto and Barreiras, also in the West region.
With R$1,2 billion, Formosa recorded a nominal drop of 34,7% compared to 2018 and fell from 2nd to 8th position in one year. Barreiras left the ranking of the 10 largest agricultural GDP in Brazil in 2019. With a value of R$ 861,3 million (-19,4% than in 2018), the municipality fell from 10th to 17th place. All this because 2019 was a low year for the main commodities produced in Bahia (cotton, soybeans and corn).
The data was received by the president of the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of Bahia (Faeb), Humberto Miranda, without much surprise. For him, even with some normal fluctuations in any activity, agriculture is the driving force behind the economy of Bahia and Brazil.
“The numbers show that 2019 was a year full of challenges in the countryside and in the city, but, despite some setbacks, we remained firm in our purpose of feeding people and economies. The continuation of São Desidério as the municipality with the highest GDP only reaffirms our vocation and our potential for agribusiness (agriculture and livestock)”, declared Miranda.
The balance released by IBGE also includes GDP generated by other economic activities, such as Industry and Commerce. Despite registering the highest growth among the capitals (+0,04%), Salvador fell two places in the ranking of the country's largest economies and occupies 12th place among the 15 largest. In the same year, the best performance was recorded in Camaçari, which had the largest share in GDP, rising from 8,3% to 8,9% of the State Economy.
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