Informal economy surpassed R $ 730 billion in 2012, estimates FGV

By ETCO
10/07/2013

G1 - Rio de Janeiro / RJ - ECONOMY - 10/07/2013

The Underground Economy Index (HEI) in Brazil, which measures the set of activities of goods and services that are not reported to the government, as occurs in the informal market, fell by 0,3 percentage point in 2012 compared to 2011, to 16,6% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The data were released on Wednesday (10) by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and by the Brazilian Institute of Competitive Ethics (Etco).

Despite the percentage drop, there was growth in absolute value: it is estimated that the underground economy surpassed R $ 730 billion last year, compared to R $ 702 billion in 2011.

According to the entity, the fall of the HEI has been occurring since 2003. That year, the informal economy represented 21% of GDP. But the best in the indicator lost strength. From 2010 to 2011, the HEI decreased 0,8 percentage points.

"In general, despite the reduction in the rate of decline of the index, the result is still positive, as it is necessary to take into account that, even with the low performance of the economy in the year, informality continues to fall," he said in a note , FGV / IBRE Applied Economics researcher Fernando de Holanda Barbosa Filho.

"This slowdown is basically due to the drop in formal hires by the industry and the growth of the service sector, which is labor intensive and very dynamic, but has higher levels of informality than the industry," he explained.