Brazil Industrial Production Returns to Growth

Brazil’s industrial production rose 0.2% month-over-month in July 2026, rebounding after two consecutive months of declines. Three of the four major economic categories and 13 of the 25 industrial sectors surveyed recorded increases. Among the major categories, durable consumer goods rose 3.2% and capital goods increased 2.4%, while semi- and non-durable consumer goods advanced 0.5%. In contrast, intermediate goods fell 0.2%, the only category to decline. Among industries, the strongest positive contributions came from computers, electronic and optical products, which rose 12.2%, food products, up 1.0%, and coke, refined petroleum products and biofuels, up 1.1%. All three ended two consecutive months of declines. Compared with July 2025, industrial production fell 0.5%, ending a four-month streak of growth. Year-to-date, output rose 1.1%.

Brazil's industrial production fell 1.8% month over month in June 2026, marking its second consecutive monthly contraction and compared with forecasts of a 0.8% drop. All four major economic categories and 16 of the 25 industrial sectors surveyed posted declines. The sharpest drops came from coke, refined petroleum products and biofuels (-5.9%), chemicals (-4.3%), food products (-1.9%), pharmaceuticals (-11.0%), apparel and accessories (-11.0%), computers and electronic products (-8.9%), and other transport equipment (-8.6%). Among the major categories, semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-4.1%) and durable consumer goods (-3.2%) recorded the steepest declines, while capital goods and intermediate goods both fell 1.1%. Despite the monthly weakness, industrial production was up 1.5% in the first half of 2026.

Brazil's industrial production fell 0.2% in May 2026 from the previous month, missing expectations of a 0.3% growth and marking its first monthly decline of the year after a 0.7% increase in April. The downturn was broad-based, with three of the four major industrial categories and 8 of the 25 industries surveyed posting declines. The largest negative contributions came from coke, refined petroleum products and biofuels (-6.1%) and extractive industries (-2.6%). Additional declines were recorded in food products (-1.3%), textiles (-4.0%), printing and recorded media (-8.1%), and computers, electronic and optical products (-2.0%). Among the 16 industries that expanded, the main gains came from pharmaceuticals (13.1%), motor vehicles (4.1%), and chemicals (3.1%), followed by metallurgy (2.3%), apparel (4.7%), other transport equipment (4.7%), electrical machinery (2.6%), and machinery and equipment (1.2%). Compared with May 2025, industrial production edged up 0.2%.