RS GDP fell 0,7% in the 1st quarter of 2023 compared to the last quarter of 2022

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Rio Grande do Sul registered a drop of 0,7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The retraction in the economy of Rio Grande do Sul was impacted by the decline in Agriculture (-21,3% ) and Industry (-4,4%), while Services showed slight growth in the period (+0,3%). In the country, GDP registered an increase of 1,9% on the same basis of comparison.

The fall in the industrial sector was driven by the drop in the numbers of the Manufacturing Industry (-5,6%), the one with the largest share in the segment, and also by the declines in the activities of Electricity and gas, water, sewage and urban cleaning (-1,9 .1,7%) and Construction (-XNUMX%).

The figures for the economy of Rio Grande do Sul in the first quarter of 2023 were released this Thursday (22/6) by the Department of Economics and Statistics (DEE), linked to the Secretariat of Planning, Governance and Management (SPGG), in a video conference with the participation of deputy secretary of the department, Bruno Silveira.

In relation to the same period in 2022, RS's GDP recorded growth of 1,7% in the first quarter, while Brazil saw an increase of 4% on the same basis of comparison.

Comparison 1st quarter/2023 - 1st quarter/2022

Although impacted by the drought recorded at the beginning of the year, when the comparison of the first quarter is made with the same period in 2022, Agriculture presented a growth rate of 13,6%, with emphasis on the increase in the production of soybean crops ( +57,7%), corn (+37,8%) and grapes (+19,8%). The positive result is explained by the lower intensity of the drought compared to the first three months of last year, when the consequences of the lack of rain in Rio Grande do Sul were even more intense. 

In Industry, the drop in the first quarter compared to 2022 was 7,2%, also driven by the Manufacturing industry (-10,4%). "Among the explanations for the drop are the interruption of maintenance work at the Alberto Pasqualini Refinery, in Canoas, and the stop in production at General Motors, in Gravataí", explains the head of DEE's Economic Analysis Division, Martinho Lazzari, responsible by calculating GDP. According to the researcher, the stoppage at the refinery represented around 60% of the drop recorded in the State's industrial segment in the period.

In the Manufacturing industry, 11 of the 14 activities presented a negative result, with those with the greatest impact on the aggregate rate being Petroleum products and biofuels (-34,4%), Metal products, except machinery and equipment (-12,6. 8,3%), Food products (-10,7%) and Chemical products (-13,2%). The increases were observed in the activities of Beverages (+2,4%), Furniture (+2,6%) and Non-metallic mineral products (+XNUMX%).

In Services, the increase in the quarter in relation to the first three months of 2022 reached 3,3%, against 2,9% in Brazil. The main highlights of the segment were Commerce (+5,5%), Financial intermediation and insurance (+5,2%), Other services (4%) and Information services (+3,9%). Among commercial activities, the most representative for the positive result were Fuels and lubricants (+36,1%), Vehicle sales (+21,7%) and Other articles for personal and domestic use (+5,3%), while the main declines were in the activities of Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (-0,7%), Fabrics, clothing and footwear (-4,5%) and Furniture and household appliances (-2,2%).

“In the coming months, driven by the growth of agriculture, the economy of Rio Grande do Sul is expected to show a recovery. Despite the drought that occurred in 2023, the soybean harvest, the State's main agricultural product, will be greater than that of 2022, positively impacting the numbers for the second quarter”, projects Lazzari.

Accumulated over four quarters, RS's GDP fell by 3,4%. In the country, the economy grew by 3,3% in the same period of comparison.