Africa´s 1.4 percent.
Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, also had the poorest GDP growth in the region outside crisis-hit Venezuela. Despite the slowdown, Brazil´s economy grew more than forecast: analysts had predicted the figure would come in at zero, and the central bank had predicted a 0.1-percent contraction.
In the fourth quarter of 2014, the economy contracted 0.2 percent, said national statistics institute IBGE.
Industry, the hardest-hit sector, contracted by 1.2 percent in 2014. Agrobusiness expanded by 0.4 percent and services by 0.7 percent.
Brazil´s central bank is forecasting annual inflation of 7.9 percent for 2015, well above its target of 4.5 percent. It has raised the key interest rate to 12.75 percent in a bid to rein in prices, but that also weighs down economic activity and investment.
Other drags on the economy include a current account deficit of $6.9 billion, a trade deficit of $2.8 billion and a weak currency.
Even unemployment, long the indicator Rousseff´s left-wing government could point to as a measure of success, has crept up since the start of the year, reaching 5.9 percent in February. The scandal at Petrobras has also dented confidence. Some of the country´s largest construction firms stand accused of colluding with Petrobras executives to massively inflate contracts, passing much of the dirty cash to politicians from Rousseff´s party and its allies in Congress.
Rousseff, who chaired the Petrobras board during much of the period under investigation, has not been implicated in the graft. But the scandal has become a major crisis just months into her second term, which began on January 1.
Rousseff´s approval rating has plunged to 13 percent, and more than 1.5 million Brazilians took to the streets this month to protest her government.
There is broad consensus that the government must get its books in order, but Rousseff´s new finance minister, Joaquim Levy, faces an uphill battle to convince Congress to raise taxes and cut spending, especially amid the slowdown.
But he did score a victory this week by convincing ratings agency Standard & Poor´s that the government is serious about economic reforms.
After long meetings with Levy, S&P decided to keep Brazil´s rating at BBB- instead of downgrading it to junk.