Brazil GDP swelled by 0.9 percent between July and September, official figures showed on Tuesday, beating analysts’ forecasts and putting its economy on track to outstrip the 2024 average for Latin America.
The data adds to a mixed bag of economic indicators for the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Along with the growing economy, unemployment in the country is at its lowest level in 12 years.
Yet Brazil is also grappling with stubbornly high inflation and a weakening currency, which have prompted the central bank to successively hike interest rates and the government to last week unveil spending cuts.
“We are continuing with growing GDP and growing more jobs and money in the hands of Brazilians,” Lula said on the social media platform X.
The finance ministry hailed the pace of GDP expansion as “robust” and said its forecast of 3.3 percent growth this year should be raised.
Analysts had forecast an increase of 0.8 percent for the third quarter, according to a collated analysis by the business newspaper Valor.
“Economic activity continues to show signals of resilience in the short term,” one analyst, Andre Perfeito, said after the release of the GDP data.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that Brazil’s economy will show three percent growth for 2024, higher than the 2.1 percent average for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
The IBGE data showed growth being led by services, up 0.9 percent, and industry, up 0.6 percent.
That compensated for a 0.9 percent decline in agriculture, which has been pummeled by extreme weather phenomena this year, including a record-breaking drought in several Brazilian regions, and floods in April and May in the south of the country.
Household consumption grew 1.5 percent over the three months.
Brazilian unemployment, measured between August and October, stands at 6.2 percent — the lowest point since 2012.
Annualized inflation as of October stands at 4.76 percent — higher than the central bank’s three-percent target, and above even its tolerated ceiling of 4.5 percent.
Brazil’s real has fallen to an all-time low against the US dollar. One dollar now fetches six reais.
Lula’s government last week announced nearly $12 billion in budget adjustments to cap public spending, in order to stabilize the long-term fiscal situation and public debt of over 78 percent of GDP.
