O volume of services in Brazil recorded a rise well above expectations in April with a boost from the transport sector e widespread gainsafter a weak first quarter.
In April, the volume of services increased 1.2% compared to the previous month, above the expectation in a Reuters survey of an increase of 0.6%, recovering the loss of 1.1% recorded in March.
The data released this Thursday by IBGE They also show that, in relation to the same month of the previous year, the volume showed a gain of 1.9%, against a projection of 0.9%.
With these results, the services sector operates just 0.3% below the top of the series, reached in October 2025.
“In fact, the month of April brought a full recovery from the setback observed in March,” he said. Rodrigo Lobo, research manager at IBGE.
“March’s result can be explained by the seasonal adjustment model. It was a month with a high number of working days (22) and the model ends up smoothing the movement, which ends up generating greater pressure on the month. April ended up benefiting from this lower comparison base from the previous month”, he explained.
The services sector, which accounts for around 70% of the country’s economy, slowed expansion to 0.5% in the first quarter, according to , amid a strong job market and stimulus measures, but interest rate still high.
In April, all five sector activities investigated showed gains, with emphasis on the 0.9% increase in transport.
“The result of the transport sector is explained, to a large extent,” after two negative results in a row, said Lobo.
“This volatility is strongly influenced by the prices of airline tickets, since in February and March there was an increase of 18.4% in prices, while in April there was a drop of 14.45% in this sub-item of the IPCA”, he added.
In April, the volume of passenger transport increased 2.6% over March, but cargo transport fell 0.9%.
O tourist activity indexin turn, grew 4.1% in April compared to the previous month after two months of losses, remaining 2.2% below the peak of its historical series, in December 2024.
