Brazilian economy grows slightly in first quarter

Hinzugefügt: 2026-06-03

[00:00:01]Cheia Barbosa's Beauty Parlor had a good first quarter in 2026 with business picking up from a slow end to 2025. A slow unemployment sustained consumer spending, but since the end of March, business has been slowing down again.

[00:00:16]>> The beginning of the year was very good.

[00:00:18]I have nothing to complain about. Money was flowing better, more in people's hands.

[00:00:24]From March onwards, I already felt a freeze in home care product sales.

[00:00:30]>> Figures for the whole economy seem consistent with his feelings. Brazil's economy grew 1.1% in the first quarter, its strongest quarterly result in a year. The main driver was agriculture. A record soybean harvest pushed the sector up 2%. Investment jumped 3.5%. Industry grew 1% and consumer spending, which accounts for the largest share of the economy, added 1%.

[00:00:54]>> The good news that in the demand and supply side, we had growth. So, we see growth in the agricultural, the industry, and also the services in Brazil. They have additional growth. And when it comes to the demand side, the household consumption was had a growth of 1%. It's a good number.

[00:01:15]>> But Cheia's instincts also seem right when he talks about signs of a downturn.

[00:01:19]>> Because we had the Iran war, we had a lot of problems here in Brazil also with the interest rates, and we have election in Brazil also. So, all that together um makes me feel a little bit uneasy for the growth of 2026 by as a whole in the year.

[00:01:37]>> Despite a rebound at the start of the year, challenges remain for the Brazilian economy. One big question is how much will Brazil's economic performance impact the general elections for president, governors, and most of the parliament at the end of the year.

[00:01:52]>> Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been battling low popularity ratings. They are connected to various types of crisis and relatively good news on the economic front, such as low unemployment and moderate growth has not been enough to turn the tide. In Brazil's current political polarization, rational factors may lose weight.

[00:02:10]>> For the supporters of Lula, for example, if even if the economy is not going so well, many of them will still keep loyal to Lula. And the same thing in those that are against him and against his party, the Workers' Party, they will support every alternative that appears against the government. It doesn't matter what happens.

[00:02:30]>> A good first quarter for TIHI and for the broader economy. Whether it holds for the rest of the year is the question. Paulo Cabral, CGTN, São Paulo.