The trade balance showed a surplus of US$19,4 billion in 2012.
Brazil's annual result was US$10 billion (or 34,8%) lower than the previous year, when it totaled US$29,794 billion, and is the worst figure in 10 years.
BRASILIA, Jan 2 (Reuters) Brazil's trade surplus fell 34,8 percent to $19,438 billion in 2012 due to a drop in exports, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC) reported on Wednesday.
In December, the balance was positive at 2,250 billion dollars, with exports of 19,749 billion dollars and imports of 17,499 billion dollars.
For the year, exports totaled $242,580 billion, a 5,3 percent decrease compared to 2011 sales. The reduction is due to the global economic crisis, which has affected external demand for Brazilian products and also the prices of important products in Brazil's export portfolio, such as iron ore.
This is the first annual drop in exports since 2009, when foreign sales fell by 21,3 percent.
Imports totaled $223,142 billion, a decrease of 1,4 percent compared to 2011.
The year's surplus was $10 billion less than that recorded in 2011, when it totaled $29,794 billion.
(By Tiago Pariz)