Regional industry
In March, industrial production grows in 11 of the 15 areas surveyed
May 13, 2026 09h00 AM | Last Updated: May 13, 2026 10h00 AM
From February to March, the positive change of 0.1% in the country's industrial production, in the seasonally adjusted series, was observed in 11 of the 15 areas surveyed. The largest increases were in Pará (4.5%), Mato Grosso (3.6%), Goiás (3.6%), and Espírito Santo (3.5%), followed by Amazonas (2.5%), Rio de Janeiro (2.5%), the Northeast Region (1.7%), Paraná (1.2%), Rio Grande do Sul (1.0%), Bahia (1.0%), and Santa Catarina (0.8%). However, also in the seasonally adjusted series, industrial activity showed negative rates in four states: Pernambuco (-1.9%), Minas Gerais (-1.4%), Ceará (-1.3%), and São Paulo (-0.2%). This contributed to the virtual stability of national industry (0.1%) in March. This information comes from the IBGE's Monthly Survey of Industry (PIM), Regional Edtiton.
Bernardo Almeida, the survey analyst, observes that, “on the positive side, Rio de Janeiro's industry stands out as the main influence, accumulating growth of 2.9% in two consecutive months, with the mining and quarrying sector contributing to this movement. On the negative side, although with a negative change of 0.2%, São Paulo stands out as the main influence, with its approximately 33% concentration of national industry. After two months of positive results, a period in which it accumulated an expansion of 4.6%, the negative performance of São Paulo's industry was influenced by the beverage sector. It is worth noting that, with this result, São Paulo's industry is 0.4% below the pre-pandemic level, set in February 2020, and 22.0% below its highest level, reached in March 2011.”
PE, ES, MT, and RS lead in comparison with March 2025
Compared to the same month of the previous year, the 4.3% increase in national industrial production in March 2026 was mirrored by fifteen of the eighteen surveyed areas. In this comparison, the largest increases in industry occurred in Pernambuco (35.0%), Espírito Santo (22.5%), Mato Grosso do Sul (12.3%), and Rio Grande do Sul (11.0%). In Pernambuco, the increase was mainly driven by the sectors of petroleum derivatives and biofuels, motor vehicles and auto parts, and chemical products. In Espírito Santo, the dynamism came from the mining and quarrying industries. In Mato Grosso, the increase was driven by food products and petroleum derivatives and biofuels (ethyl alcohol). In Rio Grande do Sul, the sectors that showed the most significant decline were food products, beverages (wines, mineral waters, and soft drinks), motor vehicles (cars, trailers and semi-trailers, and bus bodies), and coke, petroleum products, and biofuels (motor gasoline and diesel fuel).
Maranhão (-12.7%) showed the most intense decline in industrial activity, in relation to March 2025. The drop was driven by the pulp and paper products sector and by food products.
Bernardo Almeida observes that "the calendar effect in March 2026 helps explain the significant magnitudes of the higher positive rates in this comparison, since March 2026 had three more working days than the same month of the previous year (19 working days)."
Nine out of 18 Brazilian Federation Units show growth in 2026: Pernambuco, Espírito Santo, and Mato Grosso do Sul lead
While national industry accumulated a 1.3% increase in 2026 compared to the same period of the previous year, nine of the eighteen surveyed areas have positive cumulative growth for the year. Pernambuco (29.6%), Espírito Santo (22.6%), and Mato Grosso do Sul (10.3%) lead in these cumulative year-to-date indices. The analyst notes that "the industries in Pernambuco and Mato Grosso do Sul had as one of their highlights the coke, petroleum products, and biofuels sector, with an increase in diesel fuel production in the first area and ethyl alcohol in the second. In Espírito Santo, the mining and quarrying industries drove the sector, with an increase mainly in the production of crude oil."
Compared to the same month in 2025, industries in Rio de Janeiro (6.3%), Mato Grosso (5.3%), the Northeast Region (3.3%), Rio Grande do Sul (2.2%), Pará (1.7%), and Minas Gerais (1.1%) also registered positive year-to-date figures.
Rio Grande do Norte (-19.2%) accumulated the most intense decline for the year, mainly pressured by the negative performance of the coke, petroleum products, and biofuels (diesel fuel) sector.
Other states with negative year-to-date figures were Bahia (-6.5%), Ceará (-5.7%), Santa Catarina (-4.0%), Maranhão (-3.4%), Amazonas (-3.2%), Paraná (-1.9%), São Paulo (-1.0%), and Goiás (-0.6%).
Learn more about the Monthly Survey of Industry - Regional Edition:
Since the 1970s, PIM Regional has produced short-term indicators related to the behavior of the real output of mining and quarrying and manufacturing industries. It provides monthly indices for 17 Federation Units whose participation is at least 0.5% of the total value of national industrial transformation, and for the Northeast region as a whole: Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Bahia.
The states covered include: Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, and the Northeast Region.
The survey results can also be consulted at Sidra, the IBGE database. The next release of the Regional PIM, referring to April 2026, is scheduled for June 10th.
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