Pressured by the growth of imports and lower commodity prices (primary goods with international pricing), Brazil’s trade balance ended 2025 with a smaller surplus than in 2024, despite recording the best result for a December since 1989. Last year, exports exceeded imports by USD 68.293 billion, a 7.9 percent decrease compared to the surplus registered in 2024.
The figures were released on Tuesday (Jan. 6) by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. Despite the setback, this was the third-largest annual trade surplus since the beginning of the time series, in 1989.
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Both exports and imports hit record highs. Even with US tariffs and the fall in commodity prices, especially oil, sales abroad totaled USD 348.676 billion, a 3.5 percent increase compared to 2024.
Benefiting from economic growth, however, imports increased at a faster pace. Last year, Brazil bought USD 280.382 billion from abroad, a 6.7 percent increase.
Resilience
In a press conference, Brazil’s Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services Geraldo Alckmin said that the country’s foreign trade grew in 2025, even with tariffs and geopolitical difficulties.
“Our export volume grew by 5.7 percent. Global trade grew by 2.4 percent. So, we grew more than twice as much as global trade. This shows the resilience and good competitiveness of Brazilian products,” declared Alckmin.
In December, the trade balance registered a surplus of USD 9.633 billion, a 107.8 percent increase compared to the same month in 2024. This was the highest result for the month in the time series, which began in 1989, surpassing the previous record surplus of USD 9.323 billion in December 2023. Imports also reached a record value for the month.
The value of exports and imports in December was as follows:
Exports: USD 31.038 billion, a 24.7 percent increase compared to December of last year;
Imports: USD 21.405 billion, up 5.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
Products
The main products responsible for the growth in exports in December were: non-monetary gold (up 88.7%), soybeans (up 73.9%), crude oil (up 74%), and beef (up 70.5%).
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