The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 - IPCA-15 was 0.30% in January and stayed 0.46 percentage points (p.p.) above the rate registered in December (-0.16%). This was the lowest result for January since the implementation of the Real Plan in 1994. Considering the last 12 months, the index was at 3.77%, below the rate of 3.86% recorded in the 12 immediately previous months. The rate was 0.39% in January 2018.

The group of Food and beverages registered the highest change (0.87%) and the biggest impact (0.22 p.p.) on the index. On the other hand, the groups of Transportation (-0.47%) and Wearing apparel (-0.16%) recorded a deflation between December and January. The other groups varied from 0.06% in Communication to 0.68% in Health and personal care, as shown in the following table.

The group of Food and beverages rose 0.87% and stepped up in relation to December (0.35%), due to the group of Food at home, which changed from 0.22% to 1.07% in January. Having changed from 1.12% (December) to 6.52% in January and from 0.92% to 1.72%, respectively, the acceleration in the prices of fruits and meat contributed to this result. Other important items of the household consumption like onions (17.50%) and potatoes (11.27%) also recorded significant rises, though they decelerated over December, when they had risen 34.16% and 17.80%, respectively. 

Conversely, food away from home slightly decelerated: from 0.58% in December to 0.53% in January, highlighted by meals: 0.39% in January against 0.67% in December.

Transportation (-0.47%) posted the biggest drop among the nine groups surveyed, though less intense than in December (-0.93%). Gasoline (-2.73%) fell for the second consecutive month and exerted the biggest individual impact on the index: -0.12 p.p. Except for the metropolitan area of Salvador, in which gasoline rose 2.38%, the other areas registered drops which varied between -5.99% (Fortaleza) and -1.38% (Goiânia). The prices of ethanol (-1,17%) and of diesel fuel (-3.43%) also dropped, contributing to the result of -2.40% of the group of Fuels. Airfare (-3.94%) also fell in January against the rise of 29.61% in December.

Still in the group of Transportation, the increase in the fares of interstate buses (2.63%), intercity buses (1.12%) and urban buses (1.04%) stood out. The rise in urban buses was the result of the change in Belo Horizonte (4.94%), which reflected the adjustment of 11% in the fare as of December 30, and in São Paulo (2.00%), in which the adjustment was of 7.5% as of January 7.  Still in São Paulo, the fares of train (0.75%) and underground (0.75%) were adjusted by 7.5%, both of them as of January 13. In Rio de Janeiro, the average adjustment of 4.26% in the fare of taxi (1.87%) as of January 1st, 2019 stood out.

In Housing (0.08%), electricity (-0.73%) fell for the fourth month in a row, though less intensely than in December (-3.61%). The surveyed areas varied between the drop of 2.44% in Fortaleza up to the rise of 0.66% in Belo Horizonte. The green tariff flag was in force since the beginning of December, without any extra charge in the electricity fare.

Still in Housing, water and sewage fees (0.70%) stood out, whose change reflected adjustments of 6.04% in Rio de Janeiro (3.54%) since December 1st and of 8.60% in Porto Alegre (3.84%), since December 16. The change in piped gas (1.69%) reflected the adjustment of 7.20% in the fares in Rio de Janeiro (3.18%), since January 1st.

The group of Health and personal care (0.68%) registered the second biggest positive impact on the month´s index (0.08 p.p.), highlighted by the items of personal hygiene, which increased 2.23% in January, after dropping 4.46% in December.

Regarding the regional indexes, only the metropolitan area of Curitiba (-0.08%) recorded a deflation. This figure was mainly due to the drops in gasoline (-3.55%) and electricity (-1.39%). The highest index was reported in the metropolitan area of Salvador (0.80%), due to the rises in fruits (10.10%) and meat (4.60%).

In order to measure the IPCA-15, prices collected from December 13, 2018 to January 15, 2019 (reference) were compared with the ones in effect from November 13 to December 12, 2018 (base). The indicator refers to households with monthly income of 1 to 40 minimum wages and it encompasses the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador, Curitiba, as well as Brasília and Goiânia. The methodology is the same as the one used for the IPCA; the difference lies in the period of price collection and in the geographic coverage.