Rio, February 12, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Retail sales in Brazil fell 3.68% in comparison with 2002, but last December's results were positive, growing 3.20% in relation to those of December, 2002. These data were released today by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and they also show that the volume of commercial sales in 2003 was the smallest in the last three years and that December was the only month last year in which the rate was positive.

The volume of retail sales for the year as a whole was negative in 21 states. The most negative rates in comparison with 2002 occurred in Roraima (-13.16%), Paraíba (-9.41%), Alagoas (-9.37%), Rio Grande do Norte (-8.26%), and Amazonas (-7.24%). There was growth in Rondônia (5.50%), Mato Grosso (1.47%), Paraná (0.87%), and Santa Catarina (0.52%) and stability in Piauí (0.01%) and Pará (0.03%).

In the comparison between December, 2003, and December, 2002, 22 states registered increases in retail sales volume, more than in November, when 13 states presented positive rates. The increases with the greatest impact on the overall rate were in São Paulo (1.97%), Minas Gerais (5.01%), Paraná (6.97%), Santa Catarina (9.03%), and Rio Grande do Sul (4.07%). Rio de Janeiro (-0.88%) had the biggest negative impact, followed by Pernambuco (-3.37%). (DAS)