Brazil's national statistics agency (IBGE) has reported that in April this year industrial production in the largest Latin American country fell by 18.8 percent compared to March, recording its worst performance since 2002, while it decreased by 26.1 percent from April 2019, declining for the second consecutive month year on year. The declines are attributed to the effects of the social isolation period which started in March as a measure against the coronavirus pandemic.
In the January-April period of this year, industrial production in Brazil was down by 8.2 percent on year-on-year basis.
According to the announcement, in April this year the production of intermediate goods manufacturers in Brazil fell by 14.8 percent, on month-on-month basis. In the same month, output of capital goods decreased by 41.5 percent and output of consumer goods fell by 26.1 percent, while durable consumer goods output dropped by 79.6 percent and output of semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods declined by 12.4 percent, all compared to the previous month.
In April this year, Brazil's output of metal products and motor vehicles, trailers and bodies was down by 28.8 percent and 88.5 percent, respectively, while machine and equipment output declined by 30.8 percent, all on month-on-month basis. In the January-April period of 2020, Brazil's machine and equipment output fell by 10.8 percent, and output of motor vehicles, trailers and bodies decreased by 32.1 percent, both compared to the same period of 2019.