The Extended Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.59% in July and stood 0.40 percentage points below the rate of 0.99% in June. As to the July indexes, this was the highest index since July 2008, when it registered 0.63%. As a result, the cumulative IPCA-15 in the year stayed at 6.90%, above the result of 4.17% of the same period a year ago. In the cumulative index over the last 12 months, the index stood at 9.25%, above that of the preceding 12 months (8.80%). It was the highest figure in 12 months since December 2003 (9.86%). In July 2014, the IPCA-15 stayed at 0.17%. The complete data of the IPCA-15 can be accessed on page www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/precos/ipca15/defaultipca15.shtm.

Considering the nine groups of products and services surveyed, only housing (1.15%) and communication (0.59%) stood above the figures registered in the previous month (1.03% and 0.08%, respectively). 

It was in housing (1.15%), the highest change in groups, that electricity rose 1.91% and, once more, exerted the highest individual impact on the index (0.07 percentage points). The rate of 1.91% was influenced by the metropolitan area of Curitiba, where the change of 8.44% reflected most of the adjustment of 14.39%, in force since June 24, and by the metropolitan area of São Paulo, where the change of 3.84% in energy was due to the adjustment of 17.00% applied to the fares of one of the suppliers as of July 4. In 2015, electricity recorded an average rise of 44.75%. Curitiba (62.46%), Porto Alegre (57.50%) and São Paulo (55.46%) posted even higher adjustments.

Also in housing (1.15%), right after electricity, water and sewage fees, whose increase was 4.10% and impact, 0.06 p.p., reflected the adjustment that took place in the following areas.

Having risen 1.46%, cleaning products also stood out in the group of housing (1.15%).

Although the rise of 0.83% in personal expenses has been influenced by games of chance (7.06%), the pressure was lighter compared with the previous month (37.77%), reflecting the adjustments in the betting prices in force since May 18. In addition to games of chance, other items like domestic workers, which rose 0.62%, influenced the result.

Food products changed 0.64%. The metropolitan areas of Porto Alegre (1.37%) and Salvador (1.31%) registered the highest figures. Belém (-0.47), Fortaleza (-0.12%) and Goiânia (-0.09%) dropped within this group.

Despite the price increases in a number of important products in the consumption of families, like milk (3.71%), bread (1.26%), eggs (1.59%) and chicken (1.10%), other products became cheaper between June and July. The main products were:

• Tomatoes -20.37%
• Carrots -12.75%
• Black-eyed beans -6.27%
• Green vegetables -6.08%
• Cassava flour -2.44%
• Black beans -2.17%
• Fish and related items -1.93%
• Soybean oil -1.09%

The services of landline and mobile telephony rose 1.28% and 0.83%, respectively, pressing the group of communication (0.59%), whereas the monthly tuitions of health insurance (1.59%) and personal hygiene products (0,86%) pressed health and personal care (0.80%).

The monthly tuitions of health insurance (1.59%) reflected part of the maximum adjustment of 13.55% granted by the National Agency of Supplementary Health (ANS) to individual/family contracts. The IPCA-15 of July unusually incorporated adjustments relative to the months of May and June, as they were valid for the period between May 2015 and April 2016.

The group of household articles (0.47%) was pressed by bed, table and bath linen (1.26%), as well as by item utensils and ornaments (1.13%) and by services of furniture and household appliances repair (1.10%).

The lowest group figures came from transportation (0.14%), education (0.10%) and wearing apparel (-0.06%). In transportation, airfare stood out by rising 0.91%, whereas it had hit 29.54% in June. Responsible for a significant parcel of the expenditures of families, gasoline became 0.47% cheaper from one month to the other. The drop was even deeper for the liter of ethanol, whose prices fell 2.03%.

Concerning the regional indexes, the highest index was reported in Recife (0.87 %), influenced by the rise in food products (0.89%) and gasoline, whose price became 1.84% more expensive. Reflecting the adjustment of 3.51% in force since June 20, water and sewage fees also pressed this result. The lowest index was recorded in Belém (0.26%), where food products dropped 0.47%.

In order to estimate the IPCA-15, the prices collected from June 12 to July 14, 2015 (reference) were compared with the ones in force from May 15 to June 11, 2015 (base). The indicator refers to families with monthly income of one to forty minimum wages and it encompasses the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador, Curitiba, and also 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.