Brazil Industrial Output Grows 1.1%, Exceeds Forecast

(RTTNews) - Brazil's industrial production expanded more-than-expected in December, registering its fastest growth in nine months, preliminary data from the statistical office IBGE showed on Friday.

Industrial production climbed 1.1 percent monthly in December, following a revised 0.7 percent growth in November.

Moreover, this was the quickest growth since March 2023, when production had risen 1.2 percent.

With these recent results, industrial production exceeds the pre-pandemic level but is still 16.3 percent below the record level reached in May 2011, the IBGE said.

Among major economic categories, durable goods production showed a monthly growth of 6.3 percent, and that of intermediate goods increased by 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, production in the capital goods sector dropped 1.2 percent.

On a yearly basis, industrial production grew 1.0 percent in December, slower than the 1.3 percent increase in the prior month. That was well above the expected gain of 0.1 percent.

During the whole year 2023, overall industrial production advanced 0.2 percent compared with a 0.7 percent fall in 2022.