GDP OF THE SUGAR AND ALCOHOL SECTOR IN BRAZIL AND NORTHEAST: AN INPUT-OUTPUT APPROACH

Abstract

Under the traditional classification into primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, the value of Agriculture Gross Domestic Product – GDP – is underestimated since upstream and downstream relations are not computed in this statistic. In order to solve this problem, several recent studies, using the concept of Agribusiness, a term coined by Davis and Goldberg in 1957, and representing the sum of all activities related to agriculture, have sought to estimate the value of agricultural GDP considering this activity as the core of a much larger economic system and called Agribusiness and Agro-industrial Complex (CAI). In this work, we attempted to quantify the GDP of the sugar and alcohol sector both for the Northeast and for Brazil, and the participation of the region in GDP composition of this sector in Brazil. The results show that the GDP of this sector accounts for 9.21% of regional GDP. In Brazil, this share is 6.91%. The industry in the Northeast account for 15.57% of the national GDP of activity.