Brazil posted a 2.1% year-over-year growth in its GDP for the fourth quarter of 2017, according to data from government statistics agency IBGE.
The quarterly result was lower than the 2.5% average estimate from a Reuters' economist survey.
On a quarter-over-quarter basis, GDP expanded 0.1%, also below the 0.4% median estimate from Reuters' poll.
The newswire cited Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles as saying fourth-quarter figures were impacted by short-term movements in agricultural harvests. A negative result in foreign trade, including lower agricultural exports, also took a toll on growth levels in the quarter, Rebeca Palis, coordinator at IBGE, said.
At 6.1%, agriculture still posted the fastest growth among sectors in the fourth quarter, albeit being lower than the 9.1% expansion it has shown in the linked quarter and the 14.8% in the second quarter of 2017.
However, the country's agricultural sector is on its way for record crops in 2018, Meirelles said.
The economy accelerated 1.0% in 2017 compared to the year-ago result, slightly under Reuters' median estimate of 1.1%. Among the segments, agriculture posted the highest growth at 13.0%. Services, a major contributor to the GDP, grew 0.3%.
Meirelles expects Brazil's GDP to still grow 3% this year.
