Despite Low GDP Brazil’s Economy Jumps from 15 to 11th Place in the World

Brazil became the leading Latinamerican economy in 2005, ahead of Mexico, and ranked eleventh in the world according to data released Thursday by the IBGE, Brazil’s Geography and Statistics Institute.

Brazil’s GDP grew only 2.3% in 2005 reaching 795.77 billion US dollars based on the average exchange rate.

However the GDP figure was significantly affected by appreciation of the local currency, the real, against the US dollar, something analysts said weighed even more heavily than actual expansion of production of goods and services.

Actually the expansion of the South American nation’s GDP was helped not so much by real growth, which barely totaled 2.3% but by the 12.4% fall in the value of the dollar against the real in 2005, argued economist Alex Agostini from Austin Rating.

Last year’s Brazil’ 2.3% growth was the lowest of Latinamerica only ahead of Haiti.

Brazil’s GDP growth allowed it to move from position 15 (2004) to 11 (2005) among the world’s largest economies, according to International Monetary Fund figures.

Last year Brazil’s economy trailed only those of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, China, Italy, Spain, Canada and South Korea.

In comparison to 2004, Brazil’s economy ranked above those of India, Australia, the Netherlands and Mexico which ranked 13 with 758.1 billion US dollars. Russia occupied position 12 with 772.2 billion US dollars.

Last year, Brazil accounted for about one-third of Latin America’s GDP and not only surpassed Mexico in economic output, but it also expanded its lead over Argentina, which had a GDP of 177.3 billion; Venezuela, 131 billion; Colombia, 112.3 billion; and Peru with 77.2 billion.

Until 1998, Brazil had the eighth-largest economy in the world and the largest in Latin America, but it lost the regional lead in 2001.

However in per capita income Brazil ranked 72 in the world with 4.333 US dollars, behind Argentina (71); Panama (70) and Costa Rica (69).

Mercopress – www.mercopress.com

Tags:

You May Also Like

All Eyes on the Amazon

Scholars gathered at Dartmouth College to discuss Amazon issues such as human rights, cultural ...

João Hélio Fernandes, the 6-year-old boy killed in Rio, Brazil

Medieval Murder in Brazil Highlights Rio Brutality

With only days remaining until the start of Carnaval, and after weeks  of  escalating ...

Bush’s Visit to Argentina and Brazil Shouldn’t Generate More than a Few Generalities on Democracy

American President George W. Bush will confront rising anti-U.S. sentiment and doubts about his ...

Arab Mission Proposes Joint Ventures with Brazil

Bilateral trade (export plus imports) between Brazil and the Arab countries was over US$ ...

122 Brazilians Still on List of Disappeared Due to Tsunami

Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations is looking for 122 Brazilians who are still unaccounted ...

Dollar Out in Brazil-China Trade. Real and Yuan In

Brazil's Central Bank (BC) informed that it has reached an initial understanding with China ...

A Strange Silence

In a list of 150 countries classified by the he Gini index—an indicator used ...

Brazil Rushes to Heal Wounds After WTO Talks Collapse in Geneva

Brazil's Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim believes that Mercosur must do its utmost to ...

FTAA: Brazil’s Poison Pill – Part 1

Will the AIDS case in Brazil be worsened if the FTAA is established? The ...

Crisis? What Crisis, Asks Brazil’s Auto Industry

The financial crisis hitting the world has lit a warning light for the Brazilian ...