In the seasonally-adjusted series, the Brazilian industrial output grew 0.9% between January and February, with 11 out of 15 places surveyed by the Regional Monthly Survey of Industry (PIM) showing positive figures.

The biggest advances were recorded in Espírito Santo (11.6%) and Rio Grande do Sul (6.7%), with both interrupting two consecutive months of decline in the production, a period in which they accumulated losses of 11.3% and 6.8%, respectively.

On the other hand, Mato Grosso (-0.9%) and Goiás (-0.8%) showed the highest declines this month, with the first place stepping up the loss observed in the previous month (-0.8%); and the second one marking the fourth consecutive month with a drop in the production, a period in which it accumulated a reduction of 12.4%.

Survey analyst Bernardo Almeida highlights that, with the growth in February, the industrial production accumulated a gain of 3% in the last two months. Therefore, the indicator eliminated the loss of 2.3% accumulated in the period from September to December 2025.

“This movement for the second month in a row can be explained by the need for some type of inventory replenishment after the period of decline at the end of last year that reduced the levels of this variable,” said Almeida.

The analyst highlights that macroeconomic factors continue to influence the industry's performance.

“We have a contractionary monetary policy with interest rates at high levels, narrowing and making credit lines more expensive, reducing investments and thus cooling down the industrial production,” highlights him.

Compared to February 2025, industry fell 0.7%, with nine out of 18 places surveyed recording a drop in the production.

The cumulative indicator over the last 12 months increased 0.3% in February, still positive, but signaling a loss of pace compared to the results of previous months. In the cumulative index for January-February 2026, compared to the same period of the previous year, the industrial sector recorded a loss of 0.2%, with negative results in nine out of 18 places surveyed.

Espírito Santo and Rio Grande do Sul stand out

The Espírito Santo industry was the highlight of the month in absolute terms and second place in influence for the overall industry, showing an increase after two months of negative results. February's result was the most intense since May 2025 (17.5%). This month, mining and quarrying industries were the activity that most influenced the state's positive result.

Rio Grande do Sul (6.7%) was second in absolute terms and first in terms of influence this month. With the result, the industry in Rio Grande do Sul interrupts two consecutive months of declines, recording the highest rate since June 2024 (35.6%), when the local industry resumed activities after the floods that paralyzed the production in the state. Among the sectors that helped the recovery this month were beverages and motor vehicles.

“The industry in Espírito Santo offset the loss of 11.3%, accumulated in December 2025 and January 2026, while the industry in Rio Grande do Sul almost completely offset the loss of 6.8%, accumulated in the same period. Both movements allow us to make a compensatory reading for previous losses,” explains Almeida.

Bahia (3.2%), Pará (2.7%), Ceará (2.5%), Amazonas (1.7%), Santa Catarina (1.0%) and the Northeast Region (1.0%) also recorded more intense advances than the national average (0.9%), while Pernambuco (0.6%), São Paulo (0.5%) and Rio de Janeiro (0.2%) completed the set of places with positive rates in February 2026.

On the dropping side, Mato Grosso (-0.9%) and Goiás (-0.8) registered the highest decreases in February, with the first place stepping up the loss observed in the previous month (-0.8%); and the second one marking the fourth consecutive month of decline in the production, a period in which it accumulated a reduction of 12.4%.

Minas Gerais (-0.3%) and Paraná (-0.1%) also showed negative results in February 2026.

Industry drops 0.7% compared to February 2025

Compared to the same month of the previous year, the industrial sector showed a loss of 0.7% in February 2026, with nine out of 18 places surveyed recording a drop in the production. It is worth mentioning that February 2026 (18 days) had 2 less business days than the same period in the previous month (20).

Rio Grande do Norte (-24.5%) showed the sharpest decline this month (-24.5%), followed by Ceará (-9.8%) and Paraná (-7.7%). The Rio Grande do Norte industry was pressured, to a large extent, by the activities of coke, petroleum products and biofuels (diesel fuel), food products (shelled or crushed cashew nuts, candies, wheat flour, iodized table salt, condiments and compound seasonings, crystal sugar and roasted and ground coffee) and mining and quarrying industries (sea salt associated with extraction).

Amazonas (-7.2%), Goiás (-6.1%), Santa Catarina (-5.9%), Bahia (-4.1%), São Paulo (-3.6%) and Maranhão (-1.6%) completed the set of places with a reduction in the production in this type of comparison. By recording zero change (0.0%) this month, Minas Gerais repeated the production level seen in February 2025.

On the other hand, Espírito Santo (31.3%) and Pernambuco (25.0%) recorded the highest advances in February. The survey analyst highlights that the very significant expansions of the states can be explained by the low comparison bases observed in the same period of the previous year.

“In the Espírito Santo industry, the mining sector drives this growth with an increase in the production of iron ores, crude petroleum oil and natural gas. In the Pernambuco industry, the petroleum derivatives sector stands out with a significant growth of 18630.3%, since, in the same period of the previous year, some industrial plants were shut down in this sector and, therefore, the expressiveness of the change,” explains Almeida.

Mato Grosso do Sul (8.3%), Rio de Janeiro (5.8%), Mato Grosso (2.9%), Northeast Region (1.6%), Rio Grande do Sul (0.7%) and Pará (0.4%) recorded the other positive results on this basis of comparison.

Find out more about the Monthly Survey of Industry – Physical Production – Regional Release – PIM-PF:

The Regional PIM has been producing short-term indicators since the 1970s regarding the behavior of the real product from mining and quarrying and manufacturing industries. It brings monthly indexes for 17 Federation Units whose share are at least 0.5% of the total value added of the national industry and for the Northeast as a whole: Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás and the Northeast Region.

The results of the survey can also be viewed on Sidra, the IBGE database. The next release of the Regional PIM, referring to March 2026, is scheduled for May 13.

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