Brazil and Argentina
Brazil and Argentina have productive and institutional integration that is particularly evident in the automotive industry and Mercosur. Trade connects businesses and employment on both sides of the border. Energy cooperation adds another dimension to the relationship, although infrastructure agreements and studies must be distinguished from flows already in operation.
Analysis reviewed: 2026-10-07 · Indicators updated: 2026-10-07Bilateral indicators
Blank cells: data unavailable.
| Indicator | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Goods trade | 31,195 M USD | 2025 · INDEC |
| Goods: Brazil to Argentina | 18,424 M USD | 2025 · INDEC |
| Goods: Argentina to Brazil | 12,771 M USD | 2025 · INDEC |
| Services trade | ||
| Export share: Brazil to Argentina | ||
| Export share: Argentina to Brazil | 14.7 % | 2025 · Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs / CEI / INDEC |
| Investment stock: Brazil in Argentina | ||
| Investment stock: Argentina in Brazil |
Definitions and sources
Trade adds both directions. Shares refer to the country’s total goods exports; investment is an accumulated stock, not an annual flow. Every figure retains the currency and period of its source. BEA positions are historical-cost estimates based on the immediate counterpart, not market values or investment by ultimate owner. ‘More than’ indicates a lower bound, not an exact amount. A recorded stock does not establish new activity or authorisation to operate under sanctions.
- Goods trade
- 2025 · Argentina INDEC · Argentine goods reporting for January–December 2025, in M USD; rounded published amounts. Not combined with Brazilian mirror reporting.
- Goods: Brazil to Argentina
- 2025 · Argentina INDEC · Argentine goods reporting for January–December 2025, in M USD; rounded published amounts. Not combined with Brazilian mirror reporting.
- Goods: Argentina to Brazil
- 2025 · Argentina INDEC · Argentine goods reporting for January–December 2025, in M USD; rounded published amounts. Not combined with Brazilian mirror reporting.
- Export share: Argentina to Brazil
- 2025 · Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs / CEI / INDEC · Share of Argentina's goods exports for the whole of 2025 published by CEI using INDEC data; not Brazil's share as the origin of imports (24.3%).
Country comparison
Period and source beside each figure · est. = estimate by the stated institution.
| Indicator | Brazil | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal GDP | 2.28 trillion USD2025 · WB | 683.1 billion USD2025 · WB |
| GDP per capita | 10,713.29 USD2025 · WB | 14,898.09 USD2025 · WB |
| GDP growth | 2.29 %2025 · WB | 4.37 %2025 · WB |
| Policy interest rate | 13.75 %2026-10-07 · Banco Central do Brasil | No single rate · BCRA |
| Inflation · annual average | 5.02 %Annual average · 2025 · WB | 41.9 %IMF est.Annual average · 2025 · IMF |
| Inflation · latest year-on-year figure | 4.22 %Headline CPI · 2026-08 · year-on-year · Ministério da Fazenda / IBGE | 33.5 %Year-on-year · Aug. 2026 · INDEC |
| Unemployment | 5.97 %ILO est.2025 · WB | 7.15 %ILO est.2025 · WB |
| Budget balance (% of GDP) | -8.1 %IMF est.2025 · IMF | -0.4 %IMF est.2025 · IMF |
| Gross public debt (% of GDP) | 93.3 %IMF est.2025 · IMF | 80.3 %IMF est.2025 · IMF |
| Current account balance (% of GDP) | -2.93 %2025 · WB | -1.11 %2025 · WB |
| Population | 212,812,4052025 · WB | 45,851,3782025 · WB |
| Area | 8,510,420 km²2023 · WB | 2,780,400 km²2023 · BM / FAO |
| Military expenditure | ||
| Military expenditure (% of GDP) |
Definitions, dates and sources
Blank cells are not zero. Average annual inflation and the latest year-on-year figure appear in separate rows: they are not the same measure. Every annual indicator retains its reference year; when the years differ, the figures are identified as not directly comparable. When a figure is unavailable from the World Bank, an annual IMF estimate is used and identified as such. The latest year-on-year figure is the latest official release verified as of 7 October 2026. This includes advance releases marked as provisional. Mexico may have a fortnightly figure before the full month is published; it is not automatically compared with a monthly figure. The publication date is retained in each source’s details; it does not replace the observation period or the annual average. Policy rates carry their own dates and represent different instruments. Spain and France share the ECB rate. Balances are positive for surpluses and negative for deficits. The IMF may use fiscal years; unemployment retains each source’s definition (ILO estimates, IMF WEO or PCBS), as stated in the details. For Palestine, debt and the fiscal balance cover central government and retain the PCBS definition; they are not presented as consolidated general government. These are economic magnitudes, not measures of relationship quality.
Area retains each source’s territorial coverage; it does not determine sovereignty or effective control. Canada uses an archived national geographic reference. Military expenditure retains the 2024 SIPRI sample distributed by the World Bank: the amount and percentage of GDP use that same definition, which differs from NATO’s. It is not an approved budget or a 2026 figure. Information from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Military expenditure database · Terms of use0
Indicators reviewed: 2026-10-07. Each source retains its original access date; this review does not turn all the data into 2026 observations. Figures may be revised.
- Nominal GDP
- Current USDBrazil: 2025 · World Bank · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2025 · World Bank
- GDP per capita
- Current USD per personBrazil: 2025 · World Bank · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2025 · World Bank
- GDP growth
- Annual real change (%)Brazil: 2025 · World Bank · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2025 · World Bank
- Policy interest rate
- Central bank instrument (%)Brazil: 2026-10-07 · Target for the Selic rate, annual percentage · Banco Central do Brasil · Official monetary-policy target, not the effective daily interbank rate.Argentina: The BCRA abandoned the concept of a single monetary-policy rate under the new monetary-aggregates framework. It is not replaced with TAMAR, BADLAR, court interest rates or the last historical rate. · Central Bank of the Argentine Republic
- Inflation · annual average
- Average annual change in headline CPI (%)Brazil: 2025 · Annual average change in the CPI (%) · World Bank · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2025 · Annual average change in headline CPI (%) · IMF — World Economic Outlook · IMF est. · WEO estimate; not the year-on-year change for December or August 2026. · Alternative official source; verified 2026-10-07
- Inflation · latest year-on-year figure
- Headline CPI relative to the same period of the previous year (%); monthly or fortnightly frequency statedBrazil: 2026-08 · Headline IPCA; urban coverage of the SNIPC system · Ministério da Fazenda / IBGE · Official monthly data. Not mixed with the annual average. · Alternative official source; verified 2026-10-07Argentina: 2026-08 · Change in headline CPI from the same month of the previous year (%) · Argentina INDEC · Published: 2026-09-10 · Original INDEC national report; replaces the previous link to its social-media publication without changing the value. Not the monthly change (1.7%) or cumulative change (21.3%).
- Unemployment
- % of the labour force; definition used by the stated institutionBrazil: 2025 · ILO modelled estimate, % of the labour force · World Bank · ILO est. · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2025 · World Bank · ILO est.
- Budget balance
- General government (% of GDP)Brazil: 2025 · IMF · IMF est. · IMF WEO estimate, not a monthly observation. Retains the country's fiscal year where it differs from the calendar year.Argentina: 2025 · IMF — World Economic Outlook · IMF est.
- Gross public debt
- General government (% of GDP)Brazil: 2025 · IMF · IMF est. · IMF WEO estimate, not a monthly observation. Retains the country's fiscal year where it differs from the calendar year.Argentina: 2025 · IMF — World Economic Outlook · IMF est.
- Current account balance
- % of GDPBrazil: 2025 · World Bank · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2025 · World Bank
- Population
- PeopleBrazil: 2025 · World Bank · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2025 · World Bank
- Area
- Total area in km²; territorial coverage of the sourceBrazil: 2023 · World Bank / FAO · Official World Bank series; latest verified period available for this series in the 2023–2025 query.Argentina: 2023 · Total area, including inland waters; source's territorial coverage · World Bank · FAO
- Military expenditure
- Current USD per year; SIPRI series
- Military expenditure (% of GDP)
- Percentage of GDP; SIPRI definition, not NATO’s definition
Other data specific to this relationship
Goods reported by Argentina
31,195 M USD2025
12,771 M in Argentine exports + 18,424 M in imports from Brazil; INDEC, rounded amounts. [3]
What they buy and sell
Documented selection, not an exhaustive list. Cells without a figure do not mean zero value; some products are identified without a verified amount.
Brazil to Argentina
| Product or sector | Value / share |
|---|---|
Argentina to Brazil
| Product or sector | Value / share |
|---|---|
Connections between people
Industrial integration connects businesses and workers; trade values do not replace counts of employment, residents or cross-border mobility. [1] [3]
Residents, study and travel
Blank cells: data unavailable. Each measure retains its definition and period.
| Indicator | Value | Period / source |
|---|---|---|
| Residents from Brazil living in Argentina | ||
| Residents from Argentina living in Brazil | ||
| Study and training: Brazil in Argentina | ||
| Study and training: Argentina in Brazil | ||
| Academic stays: Brazil in Argentina | ||
| Academic stays: Argentina in Brazil | ||
| Travel: Brazil to Argentina | ||
| Travel: Argentina to Brazil |
What each figure measures
Residents are counted by nationality and the coverage of the stated register, not as people born in the other country or as new arrivals in one year. PERE includes dual nationals and people born outside Spain. Study with OPT and stays carrying academic credit are different measures. Travel may include several visits by the same person; FRONTUR arrivals require an overnight stay, whereas the Canadian survey includes day visits. These figures are neither added together nor automatically compared across directions.
Mobility data added or reviewed: 2026-10-07. Reference periods may be earlier.
Underlying ties
History, institutions and long-standing issues.
From bilateral agreements to Mercosur
Economic Complementation Agreement No. 14, signed in December 1990, prepared the conditions for bilateral integration. The Treaty of Asunción established Mercosur in 1991, together with Paraguay and Uruguay. Cooperation between Brazil and Argentina therefore has mechanisms that outlast a meeting or a presidential term. Their operation also depends on sectoral and administrative rules: membership of the bloc does not mean that all trade is free of specific conditions. [1]
The automotive production chain has its own rules
Automotive trade is regulated by ACE 14 protocols. Siscomex describes the flex mechanism and rules of origin, as well as instruments for technical convergence. An integrated industrial chain can send vehicles or components in both directions; treating it simply as a list of finished products is insufficient. Updating a protocol affects access and certification conditions, but does not by itself demonstrate new investment or an increase in production already achieved. [1]
What Argentina's figures for 2025 show
INDEC reports Argentine exports to Brazil of 12,771 million USD and imports from Brazil of 18,424 million in 2025. A single statistical reporting basis is retained to add up trade; it is not mixed with Brazilian mirror figures, which may differ because of valuation and recording. The trade balance is the difference between these flows, not a measure of business profits, total employment or the political desirability of the relationship for either country. [3]
Recent developments
Recent developments and latest available data · Reviewed: 2026-10-07
The regime's update in 2025
Additional Protocol No. 46 was incorporated into Brazilian regulations in June 2025, with adjustments to nomenclature and origin requirements. Siscomex also describes the timetable for the flex mechanism: gradual increases and free trade in the covered automotive products from July 2029. This is a date specified in the regime, not liberalisation already applied in 2026. Vehicles, trucks, buses and components therefore depend on specific rules within regional integration. [1]
Natural gas: agreements and studies versus actual deliveries
Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy publishes a memorandum on natural-gas marketing and a bilateral working-group report available in April 2026. These documents place interconnection and infrastructure on the economic agenda. A study identifies options and needs; it does not establish that a route is complete, all contracts are signed or an export volume has been achieved. Actual deliveries require their own records. [2]
Milestones and consequences
- 1990-12-20
ACE 14
Signing of the economic complementation agreement. [1]
- 1991
Mercosur
New framework for regional integration. [1]
- 2025-06-16
Automotive regime
Brazilian decree incorporating Additional Protocol 46. [1]
- 2026-04-29
Work on gas
Publication of a bilateral working-group report on the Brazilian portal. [2]
Sources and data
Periods and scope of the figures
Argentine goods reporting for January–December 2025 in USD is used. Amounts are rounded to millions. Energy documents are not converted into volumes of gas delivered.
- Brazil–Argentina trade agreement and automotive regime
Government of Brazil / Siscomex · Institutional source · Accessed: 2026-10-07
- Bilateral agreements on gas and interconnection
Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy · Institutional source · Accessed: 2026-10-07
- Argentina's trade in 2025
Argentina INDEC · Institutional source · Accessed: 2026-10-07