The billing dipped even further (26.4 percent) compared to the same month in 2019.
According to the report from CNI, April also saw a dip in the number of production hours, which fell 19.4 percent compared to March, and 21.8 percent compared to April 2019.
Other indicators also tumbled, including the number of workers in the industrial sector, which decreased 2.3 percent compared to March and 4 percent year on year.
The numbers confirmed a trend first registered in March, when all three indicators (billing, production hours and size of the labor force) dropped.
The negative growth figures reflected the impact "of the severe and lasting reduction in demand" amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the CNI said.
Data on sales, hours of work and usage of installed capacity saw record contractions, registering the lowest levels since such records started in 2010, while industrial employment registered the lowest level since 2004.
In April, usage of installed capacity plunged by a record 69.6 percent.
CNI's executive manager, Renato da Fonseca, said while presenting the report that April represented the peak of the crisis sparked by lockdown measures.
"We expect the economy to begin to recover in June, even though the scenario may see a slight improvement in May, with the easing of restrictions at the end of the month," said Fonseca.
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