A drop in coffee exports and an increase in vehicle imports caused Brazil’s balance of trade to record its lowest surplus for March in six years, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services reported Tuesday (Apr. 7). Last month, exports exceeded imports by USD 6.405 billion.

The result represents a 17.2 percent drop from the same month in 2025, when the surplus stood at USD 7.736 billion. The surplus is the lowest for March since 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the result was a positive USD 4.046 billion.

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The figures were as follows:

• Exports – USD 31.603 billion, up 10 percent from March last year;
• Imports – USD 25.199 billion, up 20.1 percent from March last year.

The value of exports is the second highest for the month of March since the beginning of the time series, surpassed only by March 2023. Imports reached the highest value in the series, which began in 1989.

Sectors

Broken down by sector, exports in March varied as follows:

• Agriculture – +1.1 percent, with a two percent decline in volume and a three percent increase in average price;
• Extractive industry – +36.4 percent, driven by oil, with a 36.4 percent increase in volume and a 0.2 percent increase in average price;
• Manufacturing – +5.4 percent, with a 4.2 percent increase in volume and a one percent increase in average price.

Imports

As for imports, the increase is mainly linked to vehicles, with purchases from abroad rising by USD 755.7 million in March compared to the same month in 2025. By category, the main products are as follows:

• Agriculture – fish (+28.9%); fruits and non-oil seeds (+26.6%); and soybeans (+782%);
• Extractive industry – ores and concentrates of base metals (+33.7%); non-agglomerated coal (+59.9%); and crude petroleum oils (+19.4%);
• Manufacturing – other medicines, including veterinary medicines (+72.2%); chemical fertilizers (+61%); and passenger cars (+204.2%).

Year to date

In the first three months of the year, the trade balance recorded a surplus of USD 14.175 billion, 47.6 percent higher than the same period last year. The surge is due to the import of an oil rig in February 2025, a transaction that did not occur in 2026.

• Exports – USD 82.338 billion, up 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year;
• Imports – USD 68.163 billion, up 1.3 percent in the same comparison.

The cumulative surplus is the third largest in the time series, surpassed only by the first quarters of 2024 and 2023.

Data released by the Ministry of Labor and Employment show that 255,321 formal jobs were created in February. The indicator measures the difference between hires and layoffs.

The net figure is higher than in January, when the country created 115,018 jobs.

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Job creation fell 42 percent compared to February of last year, driven by high interest rates and the economic slowdown. In the same month in 2025, 440,432 jobs were created, according to adjusted data that account for late filings by employers.

Cumulative figures

In January and February, there was a 37.8 percent drop in the cumulative number of formal jobs. There were 370,339 in the first two months of 2026, compared to 594,953 in the same period in 2025.

The data include adjustments, as the Ministry of Labor records late submissions by employers and revises figures from previous months.

Sectors

When broken down by industry, all five sectors surveyed reported formal job growth in February:

• Services: 177,953 jobs
• Manufacturing: 32,027 jobs
• Construction: 31,099 jobs
• Agriculture and Livestock: 8,123 jobs
• Retail: 6,127 jobs

Traditionally, February is a slow month for retail, as the sector recovers from the end of temporary Christmas contracts.

Formal employment

With the creation of formal jobs, the number of formally employed workers reached 48,837,602 at the end of February, up 0.53 percent from January and 2.19 percent from the same month last year.

A formal employment contract guarantees the rights provided under labor law, such as 30 days of paid vacation per year, a monthly meal allowance, and unemployment insurance.