Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística

In March 2026, the positive change of 0.1% in national industrial production, compared to February, in the seasonally adjusted series, was accompanied by positive results in eleven of the fifteen areas surveyed. Pará (4.5%), Mato Grosso (3.6%), Goiás (3.6%) and Espírito Santo (3.5%) showed the most significant advances, and 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%) completed the set of areas with positive rates in March. On the other hand, Pernambuco (-1.9%) showed the most intense decline. Minas Gerais (-1.4%), Ceará (-1.3%) and São Paulo (-0.2%) also showed negative results in March.

Also in the seasonally adjusted series, the quarterly moving average for industry was 1.0% in the quarter ended in March, compared to the previous month, and intensified its pace compared to the first two months of the year: February (0.3%) and January (0.0%) of 2026. Fourteen of the fifteen areas surveyed showed positive rates in March. The most significant advances were in Pará (5.3%), Espírito Santo (2.7%), Bahia (2.4%), Amazonas (2.1%), the Northeast Region (1.7%), and São Paulo (1.4%). The only decline was in Pernambuco (-1.3%).

In March 2026, the industry showed positive results in eleven of the fifteen areas surveyed. The largest advances were in Pará (4.5%), Mato Grosso (3.6%), Goiás (3.6%), and Espírito Santo (3.5%). Pará showed growth in production for the third consecutive month, accumulating a gain of 17.1%. Mato Grosso eliminated the cumulative loss of 1.5% in the first two months of the year. Goiás interrupted four consecutive months of decline, a period in which it accumulated a reduction of 11.0%. Espírito Santo accumulated an advance of 16.5% in two consecutive months of production expansion. The states of 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%) completed the set of areas with positive rates in March 2026. On the other hand, Pernambuco (-1.9%) showed the most intense drop in the month, after registering a positive change of 0.1% in February and falling 2.1% in January 2026. Minas Gerais (-1.4%), Ceará (-1.3%), and São Paulo (-0.2%) also showed negative rates in March.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, industrial production grew 4.3% in March 2026, with increases in fifteen of the eighteen areas surveyed. It is worth mentioning that March 2026 (22 days) had 3 more working days than the same month of the previous year (19). Pernambuco (35.0%), Espírito Santo (22.5%), Mato Grosso do Sul (12.3%) and Rio Grande do Sul (11.0%) showed the most significant advances, driven mainly by the positive performance observed in the sectors of coke, petroleum products and biofuels (diesel fuel and liquefied petroleum gas), motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (cars, vehicles for the transportation of goods and auto parts) and chemical products (terephthalic acid and its salts, polyethylene terephthalate, liquid soaps and detergents, disinfectants and mineral or chemical fertilizers of NPK formulas), in the first area; and mining and quarrying industries (crude petroleum oils, natural gas and pelletized or sintered iron ores), in the second; The third category includes food products (fresh or chilled beef and pork, and processed meats or salami and other pork preparations) and coke, petroleum products and biofuels (ethyl alcohol); and the last category includes food products (frozen poultry meat and offal, fresh or chilled beef, frozen, fresh or chilled pork, processed meats or salami and other pork preparations, rice, cakes, soybean meal and bran, animal feed, cheeses and breads), beverages (wines, mineral waters and soft drinks), motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (automobiles, trailers and semi-trailers and bus bodies) and coke, petroleum products and biofuels (motor gasoline and diesel fuel).

The Northeast Region (9.9%), Mato Grosso (8.3%), Goiás (8.1%), and Rio de Janeiro (7.4%) also registered advances above the national average (4.3%), while Amazonas (4.1%), Pará (3.7%), Paraná (2.9%), São Paulo (2.2%), Santa Catarina (0.3%), Minas Gerais (0.3%), and Ceará (0.1%) completed the set of areas with production growth in March.

Maranhão (-12.7%) recorded the most intense decline, largely due to the activities of pulp, paper and paper products (cellulose) and food products (bread, cakes, sweets and other similar products produced in bakeries, ready-to-eat desserts and fresh or chilled beef). Rio Grande do Norte (-5.1%) and Bahia (-3.4%) registered the other negative results in the monthly index for March 2026.

In the year-to-date figures, compared to the same period of the previous year, industry advanced 1.3%, with positive results in nine of the eighteen areas surveyed. Pernambuco (29.6%), Espírito Santo (22.6%) and Mato Grosso do Sul (10.3%) showed the most significant advances in the year-to-date figures, driven largely by activities related to coke, petroleum products and biofuels (diesel fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and fuel oils) in the first area; and mining and quarrying industries (crude petroleum oils, iron ores pelletized or sintered and natural gas) in the second; and food products (fresh or chilled beef and pork, and processed meats or salami and other pork preparations), pulp, paper and paper products (cellulose), and coke, petroleum products and biofuels (ethyl alcohol), in the third category.

Rio de Janeiro (6.3%), Mato Grosso (5.3%), the Northeast Region (3.3%), Rio Grande do Sul (2.2%), and Pará (1.7%) also registered more intense advances than the national average (1.3%), while Minas Gerais (1.1%) completed the set of areas with growth in the cumulative index for the year. On the other hand, Rio Grande do Norte (-19.2%) recorded the most intense decline in the cumulative index for the year, mainly pressured by the negative performance of the coke, petroleum products, and biofuels (diesel fuel) sector. 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%) also showed negative results in the cumulative index for the period January-March 2026.

In the comparison of the last quarter of 2025 with the first quarter of 2026, both comparisons against the same period of the previous year, eight of the eighteen surveyed areas showed increased dynamism, following the movement of the national industry, which went from -0.7% to 1.3%. The largest gains came from Pernambuco (from 2.6% to 29.6%), Mato Grosso do Sul (from -12.5% ​​to 10.3%), Pará (from -9.4% to 1.7%), Mato Grosso (from -4.1% to 5.3%), the Northeast Region (from -0.5% to 3.3%), and São Paulo (from -4.6% to -1.0%). The main losses occurred in Rio Grande do Norte (from -9.0% to -19.2%), Goiás (from 4.7% to -0.6%), Ceará (from -1.2% to -5.7%), Bahia (from -2.1% to -6.5%), Amazonas (from 0.9% to -3.2%), and Santa Catarina (from -0.4% to -4.0%), which recorded the largest losses between the two periods.

The cumulative growth over the last twelve months was 0.4% in March 2026, showing a slight increase in pace compared to February (0.3%). Only eight of the eighteen areas surveyed recorded positive rates in March 2026, but eleven showed greater dynamism compared to February. Pernambuco (from 3.2% to 7.2%), Espírito Santo (from 17.0% to 18.6%), Rio Grande do Norte (from -13.6% to -12.4%), the Northeast Region (from -0.1% to 1.1%), Rio Grande do Sul (from 1.5% to 2.6%), Goiás (from 1.8% to 2.4%), Mato Grosso do Sul (from -11.1% to -10.7%), and Rio de Janeiro (from 5.9% to 6.3%) recorded the most significant gains between February and March 2026, while Paraná (from -0.7% to -1.4%), Santa Catarina (from 0.5% to -0.1%), Bahia (from -1.4% to -2.0%), and Pará (from 0.4% to 0.1%) showed the main losses between the two periods.