Brazil Factory Activity Sees Sharpest Drop Since 2024

2026-02-03 12:27 By Isabela Couto 1 min. read

Brazil’s industrial production fell 1.2% month-on-month in December 2025, marking the steepest decline since July 2024 and missing market expectations of a 0.7% drop.

The contraction was broad-based, affecting all four major economic categories and 17 of the 25 sectors surveyed.

The largest negative contributions came from motor vehicles (-8.7%), chemicals (-6.2%), and metallurgy (-5.4%).

Partially offsetting the decline, output rose in coke, refined petroleum products and biofuels (+5.4%), pharmaceuticals (+6.7%), and extractive industries (+0.9%).

Among major categories, capital goods (-8.3%) and durable consumer goods (-4.4%) recorded the sharpest declines.

Despite the setback, industrial output remained 0.6% above pre-pandemic levels, though still 16.3% below the 2011 peak.

On a year-on-year basis, production increased 0.4%, ending two consecutive months of contraction.



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