logo Agência Brasil
Economy

Brazilian trade balance records second-best January result

Exports exceeded imports by USD 4.342 billion
Wellton Máximo
Published on 06/02/2026 - 09:34
Agência Brasil - Brasília
Bulk Carrier 'Discoverer' unloads U.S. soybeans at the port of Paranagua, Brazil, December 3, 2020. Picture taken December 3, 2020. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Rodolfo Buhrer
© Reuters/Rodolfo Buhrer/Proibida reprodução

The Brazilian trade balance registered the second-highest surplus for the month of January since records began in 1989, benefiting from a drop in imports, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) announced on Thursday (Feb. 5). Last month, exports exceeded imports by USD 4.342 billion, an increase of 85.8 percent compared to the surplus of USD 2.337 billion in the same month of 2025.

The January trade balance result is surpassed only by 2024, when the surplus reached USD 6.196 billion.

The value of exports and imports:
Exports: USD 25.153 billion, a 1 percent decrease compared to January last year;
Imports: USD 20.810 billion, a 9.8 percent decrease in the same period.

The value of exports is the third highest for the month of January since records began in 1989, surpassed only by January 2024 and 2025. Imports registered the second-highest January on record, surpassed only by the same month last year.

Sectors

In the distribution by economic sectors, exports in January varied as follows:

• Agriculture: 2.1 percent, with a 3.4 percent decrease in volume and a 5.3 percent increase in average price;
• Extractive industry: minus 3.4 percent, with a 6.2 percent increase in volume and a 9.1 percent decrease in average price;
• Manufacturing industry: minus 0.5 percent, with a 0.6 percent decrease in volume and a 0.1 percent decrease in average price.