Real gross domestic income, trading gains and terms of trade in Brazil from 1948 to 2016

Abstract

In this paper, we calculate for Brazil the macroeconomic aggregate called real gross domestic income (RGDI) and trading gains resulting from terms of trade changes, from 1948 to 2016. RGDI equals real gross domestic product (RGDP) plus trading gains, thus incorporating terms of trade change effects that are not captured by RGDP. The international conventions highly recommend that RGDI be an integral part of the System of National Accounts, but it is not calculated in Brazil since 1990 (there are official data for the period 1970-1989). In some periods, and even in isolated years, the two measures differed significantly. For example, from 1974 to 1990, RGDI grew 7,3% less than RGDP; from 1991 to 1996, RGDI grew 2,7% more than RGDP; and from 2005 to 2011, RGDI grew 3,3% more than RGDP. In 2010 only, RGDI grew 1,8% more than RGDP. From 2012 to 2016, the variation of RGDI was 2,6% less than that of RGDP. These results were obtained using the domestic absorption deflator to deflate the balance of goods and services. The text presents also results with the use of two other deflators, the imports deflator and an average between export and import deflators.