Brazil Posts Record Trade Surplus Of $62.3 Bn In 2022

• Brazil posted a $62.3 billion trade surplus in 2022, official data showed on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, a record in the series that started in 1989. In December, the trade surplus was $4.8 billion, exceeding the $3 billion surplus forecast in a Reuters poll with economists.
• The 2022 result was above the most recent expectations of the Jair Bolsonaro government, which in October had projected a trade surplus of $55.4 billion.
• Total exports for the year also reached a record high of $335 billion, a 19.3% growth, helped by a boost in prices in the agriculture and livestock sector. Imports, meanwhile, jumped 24.3% and were also record-breaking, at $272.7 billion.
• Both ends of the trade flow were affected by a sharp increase in prices, which rose much higher than the volume of commercial transactions: 13.6% on average for exports and 23.4% for imports.
• In December alone, exports grew 14% compared with the previous year, to $26.6 billion. Imports reached $21.9 billion, or 12% above the last month of 2021.

(Source: Reuters