This article proposes a new indicator based on principal component analysis to study the level of development of Brazilian industry. Its utilization on regional data shows high disequilibrium among different regions. Results are much more favorable in the South and Southeast than in the rest of the country. This is true when comparing the 27 states as well as the 137 mesoregions. A high degree of heterogeneity in the interior of the most developed states was also identified. There are a few cases of success in the North, Northeast end Center-West regions; in some cases, these are metropolitan regions surrounding the state capitals; in others they are related to specific local policies to attract new investments. In the second part of the paper cluster analysis is used to show the similarities among the regions. The state of São Paulo and its metropolitan region are two outliers showing the best results in the country. Various groups with different level of development are formed. The comparison between the results encountered in both analysis (cluster and principal components) shows a strong association. As expected, regions with similar values for the indicator tend to belong to the same group.
Brazilian industry; regional industry; economic indicators
