The Performance of the Agricultural Economics in BRICS Countries - The Agricultural Economics of the 21st Century - page 78

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South Africa
China
India
Russian Federaon
Brazil

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Fig. 6.10 Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) among BRICS countries

us to understand the previous explanations for CO 2 emissions and the use of
alternative energies in Brazil.
India and Brazil, namely the latter, have had the worst performance in terms of
goods and services export (Fig. 6.14 ). China, for example, was the country that
better improved its performance in terms of competition within the international
market.
The weight of investment, measured by the gross capital formation in percentage
of the GDP, was greater in China and India, a worrying sign with the modernization
of the country and the economy (Fig. 6.15 ). The lowest investments, namely in
recent years, were verified to be in Brazil and South Africa.
The value added by agriculture as a percentage of the GDP has decreased in all
the BRICS countries, from 1961 until 2012, namely in India and China (Fig. 6.16 ).
However, these two countries maintain the highest levels of value added proportion
in the agricultural sector, namely India. South Africa has the lowest weight of value
added in the farming sector, despite having the greatest land percentage in agricul-
ture and a good performance in agricultural productivity.
India, between 1961 and 2012, had the lowest contribution from industry
towards the GDP (Fig. 6.17 ), as well as Brazil and South Africa, from the beginning
of the 1990s (about 30 % in 2012). The best performance was verified in China and
in the Russian Federation.
The contribution of services to the GDP is higher in Brazil and South Africa
(about 70 % in 2012) and lower in China (Fig. 6.18 ). If it is considered that industry
is the engine of the economy, as argued by some economic theories (Keynesians,
New Economic Geography, etc.), then China and Russia have some advantage in
the field of international competition.