RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the first, reaching 1.693 trillion reais (416 billion U.S. dollars), governmental statistics agency IBGE announced Friday.
The figures indicate a very slow recovery of the Brazilian economy, which remained stable in the fourth quarter of 2017 and grew only 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
According to IBGE, the agriculture sector remained stable in the second quarter, while the industrial sector shrank 0.6 percent and the services sector expanded 0.3 percent in the period.
Family consumption and governmental consumption rose 0.1 and 0.5 percent respectively, compared to the first quarter of 2018. Investments were up 1.8 percent. Exports fell 5.5 percent in the period, while imports fell 2.1 percent against the first quarter.
Compared to the second quarter of 2017, Brazil's GDP expanded one percent. Though it was the fifth consecutive rise year-on-year, the rise has been gradually smaller over the past two quarters.
Both industry and services registered positive figures, expanding 1.2 percent each. The agricultural sector shrank 0.4 percent.
Family consumption rose 1.7 percent in the second quarter of 2018, compared to the same period last year. It was the fifth consecutive rise in this indicator. Governmental consumption had a smaller rise of 0.1 percent. Investments were up 3.7 percent. Exports decreased 2.9 percent and imports rose 6.8 percent compared to the same period in 2017.
In the first half of 2018, the accumulated GDP was up 1.1 percent compared to the first half of 2017. The accumulated GDP over the last four quarters increased 1.4 percent compared to the previous four quarters.
The investment rate reached 16 percent of the GDP, up from the 15.3 percent in the same period in 2017. The savings rate was 16.4 percent, against 15.7 percent in the same period last year.
