The Gilbues Desertification Centre, located in the state of Piaui, covers at least fifteen municipalities, seven of which (Gilbues, Riacho Frio, Sao Goncalo do Gurgueia, Monte Alegre do Piaui, Redencao do Gurgueia, Corrente and Barreiras do Piaui) are degraded by more than 45%. The aim of the study was to identify the economic dynamics and verify the economic and social indicators in the Gilbues-PI Desertification Centre. Information was obtained from the database of the National Semi-Arid Institute (INSA), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCTI), the Brazilian Semi-Arid Information and Knowledge Management System (SIGSAB) and the database of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the IBGE Automatic Retrieval System (SIDRA), with a focus on rural dynamics.