Brazilian industrial production rose 0.7 percent in April 2026 compared to March, according to seasonally adjusted data. It was the fourth consecutive month of growth, accumulating a 4.4 percent increase over the period.

The data come from the Monthly Industrial Survey, released this Wednesday (Jun. 3) by the Brazilian government’s statistics agency IBGE.

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With this result, the industry is 4.7 percent above the pre-pandemic level (February 2020), but remains 12.9 percent below the record high reached in May 2011.

Brazilian industry grew 1.7 percent between January and April 2026 compared to the same period last year.

Growth

The highlights were the extractive industries (3.1%) and the coke, petroleum products and biofuels (3.1%) segments, both growing for the fifth consecutive month.

“In these sectors, the main positive drivers came from crude oil, natural gas, and iron ore in the extractive sector and from ethanol and petroleum products, especially diesel, in the petroleum products and biofuels sector,” explained research manager André Macedo.

According to IBGE, other positive contributions to growth came from rubber and plastic products (3.1%), wood products (8.5%), textile products (4.1%), and electrical machinery, equipment, and materials (2.2%).

Decline

On the other hand, among the 11 sectors that saw a decline in production, the chemical products sector (-3.9%) had the largest impact during the month.

“Also noteworthy are the negative impacts of the pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical chemical products (-6.0%), machinery and equipment (-2.9%), motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (-0.7%), and metallurgy (-1.0%) sectors,” said IBGE.

Data released by the Ministry of Labor and Employment indicate that 85,888 formal jobs were created in April. The figure reflects the difference between hiring and layoffs.

The total is 62.3 percent lower than in March, when the country created 227,974 jobs.

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Job creation fell 63.9 percent compared with April last year, pressured by high interest rates and the economic slowdown. In the same month of 2025, 238,216 jobs were generated.

Among the months of April since 2020, this was the second-lowest result in the series, surpassed only by April 2020, when 981,342 jobs were lost at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in methodology prevent comparisons with years prior to 2020.

Sectors

By division by sector of activity, three of the five sectors surveyed created formal jobs in April.
• Services: +69,601 jobs
• Construction: +23,525 jobs
• Industry (manufacturing, extraction, and other activities): +9,256 jobs

Two sectors shed more jobs than they generated in April: agriculture, with a loss of 8,378 jobs, and commerce, with 8,114 fewer jobs.

Traditionally, April is a weak month for commerce. In agriculture, the layoffs are due to the end of the soybean harvest and the demobilization of apple and orange crops.

Formal contract

With the creation of new jobs, the number of workers with formal contracts ended April at 47,810,425, an increase of 0.18 percent compared with March and 2.26 percent compared with the same month last year.

The Brazilian economy grew 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the last quarter of 2025. Over the past 12 months, there was a two percent expansion.

The gross domestic product (GDP) was announced Friday morning (May 29) by the statistics bureau IBGE.

Compared to the same period last year, GDP growth stands at 1.8 percent.

In current values, Brazil’s GDP reached BRL 3.3 trillion in the first quarter, approximately USD 646 billion.

Sectors

Comparing the two consecutive quarters, the three sectors surveyed showed growth – agriculture (2%), industry (1%), and services (0.5%).

Industry accounted for 23 percent of GDP in the first quarter. Within the sector, the activities that most drove growth were mineral extraction (3.6%) and construction (2.9%).

The services sector, which accounts for 70 percent of the Brazilian economy, was driven by growth in information and communication (2.4%), real estate (1.2%), other service activities (0.8%), and trade (0.6%).

Household consumption expenditure (1%) and gross fixed capital formation (3.5%), which measures the level of investment, were also on the rise. Government consumption rose 0.4 percent.

Exports fell by 1.7 percent, while imports went up 4.4 percent.
 

Brazilian exports of high-tech products grew 7.7 percent in 2025, but remain well below sales of low-tech goods, as per a survey released Tuesday (May 26) by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).

High-tech products totaled USD 9.1 billion last year and accounted for just 2.7 percent of the country’s total exports. In contrast, low-tech products reached USD 130.7 billion, 37.5 percent of Brazil’s foreign sales.

The study was based on data from the Center for Foreign Trade Studies Foundation and indicates that high-tech exports remain 15 times lower than those of low-tech products.

Challenge

In a statement, CNI’s Trade and International Integration Manager Constanza Negri noted that this represents a challenge to the competitiveness of Brazilian industry.

“High-quality economic growth depends on progress in medium-to-high and high-tech sectors,” she stated.

Expanding the share of these sectors, Negri argued, is essential to diversify Brazil’s export portfolio and strengthen the international presence of domestic industry.

Manufacturing industry

The US remained the main destination for Brazilian manufacturing exports, despite a 4.2 percent decline in sales. Sales to the US market totaled BRL 30.2 billion.

China increased its purchases of Brazilian industrial products by 19.4 percent, totaling USD 22 billion in 2025. The food sector was primarily responsible for the growth in exports to the Asian country.

In terms of imports, China remained the leading supplier of industrial goods to Brazil, with sales of USD 70.6 billion.

Argentina

Brazilian exports to Argentina added up to USD 18.1 billion in 2025, up a 31.4 percent over the previous year.

This performance was driven by the auto sector, which recorded a 57.2 percent surge in sales to the Argentine market. Passenger vehicles, trucks, and auto parts led exports to the neighboring country.