SP gains weight and grows above average
Folha de S. Paulo - 11/27/2007
The São Paulo economy is greater than what was imagined and grows above the national average (3.6%, versus 3.2%). In the revised data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), according to the new methodology, the GDP of the State of São Paulo in 2002 was equivalent to 34.6% of the country's- two percentage points above the original verification. In the new calculation, the 2005 São Paulo GDP, which is the last data available, represented 33.9%, keeping the trend of loss of importance in the long term which had already been registered in the old series. Regarding 2004, when it was 33.1%, there was a recovery and São Paulo's percentage went up 0.8%. In absolute values, the gain of two points in the GDP is equivalent to R$ 43 billion (US$ 17.7 billion), at historical values of 2005. In that year, the São Paulo GDP amounted to R$ 728.9 billion (US$ 299.5 billion). According to Frederico Cunha, Regional Accounts manager of the IBGE, São Paulo has been benefited by the increase of the participation of the service industry in the GDP, which started being better analyzed with IBGE's new methodology, especially concerning the sub sector of financial mediation. Behind São Paulo, the largest economies of the country in 2005 were Rio de Janeiro (11.5% of the total of the country), Minas Gerais (9%), Rio Grande do Sul (6.7%), Paraná (5.9%), Bahia (4.2%), and Santa Catarina (4%). In São Paulo, the areas that gained more room in the economy were commerce, transports, hostelling, food and services rendered to companies. The industry has also advanced, however such advance was less intense. Agriculture's participation fell by half.