Retail opens 2026 with a high of 3.4%, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse

The beginning of 2026 maintains growth for Brazilian retail. According to data from Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures physical and online retail sales and includes all payment methods, without adjusting for inflation, the sector recorded growth of 3.4% compared to the same period last year.In total, there were 10 sectors of the economy analyzed, with six of them performing above the national average.

In the regional cut, 15 of the 27 federative units outperformed the average growth of the country, indicating a heterogeneous recovery of consumption between the different regions.

“The result of January reinforces the resilience of the Brazilian consumer, especially the restaurant sector, which showed strong dynamism.The Northeast region remains a positive highlight, while we observe growth opportunities in sectors such as furniture and decoration, for example”, says Gustavo Arruda, Chief Economist for Latin America at the Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI).

In the sectorial performance, areas considered discretionary showed an acceleration. The main positive numbers were Restaurants (12.3%), Jewelry (10.8%), Electronics (9.6%). On the other hand, some sectors had a poor performance, such as Building Materials (-0.9%) and Furniture and decoration (-3.6%), for example.

Regionally, all of them had the Northeast led growth with 5.9%, while the Southeast recorded the lowest expansion (2.2%). The two states with the best performance were from the Northeast: Ceara (7.7%) and Bahia (7.3%), followed by Santa Catarina (6.4%) in the south.

End of 2025

The results of the first month of the year follow the positive trajectory of the last month of 2025. Still according to MEI, retail closed the month of December with a high of 4.9%, with the prominent sectors being Pharmacies (13.8%), Hospitality (8.3%) and Restaurants (7.4%). In the states, two repeat: Santa Catarina (10.8%) and Ceara (9.7%), with Sergipe (9.9%) among them.