Foreign trade figures of Brazil

Foreign Trade in Figures

Although foreign trade only represented 39.2% of its GDP in 2021 (World Bank), Brazil is among the world's 30 largest exporters and importers and the country has an enormous economic potential. Brazil mainly exports iron ores (15.9%), soya beans (13.8%), petroleum oils (10.9%), cane or beet sugar (3.3%), and oil cake (2.6%); while its main imports are petroleum oils (5.9%), parts and accessories for tractors and motor vehicles (3.3%), human and animal blood prepared for therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic uses (3%), petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons (2.7%), and mineral or chemical fertilisers (2.5%). According to IMF Foreign Trade Forecasts, the volume of exports of goods and services increased by 2.2% in 2022 and is expected to increase by 4.4% in 2023, while the volume of imports of goods and services decreased by 6.8% in 2022 and is expected to decrease to 1.8% in 2023.

The country's main trade partners are China, the United States, Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands, Chile, and India. Despite being the largest economy in Latin America and the ninth in the world, Brazil is still relatively closed compared to other large economies, with a low trade penetration and a low number of exporters relative to the population (its absolute number of exporters is roughly the same as that of Norway, a country with approximately 5 million people, compared to Brazil’s 213 million). However, the country has been implementing changes to improve trade, such as reducing the time for documentary compliance for both exporting and importing by enhancing its electronic data interchange system. Additionally, given that the EU is Brazil's second-biggest trading partner, they are working on a free trade agreement - as a part of the EU's Association Agreement negotiations with the Mercosur countries. Not only that, but the bloc has also been looking into signing a bilateral agreement with China in a plan to modernise and open it to other regions. Furthermore, since the inauguration of the newly-elected Brazilian president, Lula, in January 2023, Brazil and Argentina have been working to foster stronger trade ties and introducing a common currency.

Brazil’s trade balance is structurally positive, but has declined in recent years due to a drop in the prices of raw materials, an increase in energy imports and a decline in the competitiveness of Brazilian products. According to the latest available data from WTO, in 2021, Brazil imported USD 234 billion and exported USD 280 billion in goods, while in services the country imported USD 50 billion and exported USD 33 billion. As a result, trade balance of goods and services amounted to USD 19,2 billion. As the world’s agricultural super power, Brazil conducts a very particular foreign trade policy, aiming at conquering markets while preserving at all cost its influential position.