Brazil's industrial output fell 18.8 percent in April from March, the biggest decline since 2002, as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Brazilian statistics agency reported on Wednesday.
The industrial production decreased in the fourth month of the year by 27.2 percent compared with April 2019, also a record fall, said the state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in its report.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian industrial output dropped by 8.2 percent in the first four months of the year compared with the same period in 2019, according to the IBGE.
"The April result occurred, clearly, due to the greater number of stoppages of the various production units in various industrial segments caused by the pandemic. March had already presented a negative result. Now, in April, we see an increased decline, with falls in double-digits in all economic categories," the IBGE said.
In April, 22 of the 26 industrial segments analyzed reported a lower production, led by the automotive industry, which contracted 88.5 percent from March.
The interruption of automotive production impacted other sectors as well, such as machinery and equipment, which saw a drop of 30.8 percent, metallurgy by 28.8 percent, and plastics by 25.8 percent.
The only segments of the industry that increased production in April were areas considered to be essential: pharmaceuticals, up 6.6 percent; food products, up 3.3 percent; and perfumery, cleaning, and personal hygiene products, up 1.3 percent.
Financial analysts estimated that Brazil's industrial production will decrease by 3.59 percent in 2020.
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