The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15) changed by 1.42% in February and was 0.50 percentage points (p.p.) above the January rate (0.92%). In terms of months of February, this is the highest index since 2003 (2.19%). Considering the last 12 months, othe index was 10.84%, the highest since November 2003, which reached 12.69%. In February 2015, the rate was 1.33%. Complete IPCA figures are available here.

The most significant contributions to the formation o f the index came from Food and Beverages, with increase of 1.92% and impact of 0.49 p.p., Transportation, with 1.65% and 0.30 p.p. and Education, with 5.91% and impact of 0.27 p.p.. Together, they accounted for 75% of the IPCA-15, resulting in a total 1.06 p.p.. The results for all the groups of products and services surveyed are shown below.

The hike of 5.91% recorded by Education reflcts the price adjustments effected in the beginning of the school year, mainly those related to the rising fares of regular courses, na item that recorded a 7.41% increase. It accounted for the main individual impact on the monthly index, 0.21 p.p. . Except for Fortaleza, which did not record increase due to the difference in the adjustment period, the other áreas recorded increases ranging from 3.99%, in the metropolitan área of Recife, and 10.88%, of Rio de Janeiro. The fares of other courses (language, computer science, etc) changed by 5.53%.

The prices of food products, remained on na upward trend and reached 1.92%. Among the itesms surveyed, the highlights were carrot (24.26%), onion (14.16%), tomato (14.11%), garlic (13.08%), cassava flour (12.20%) and gren vegetables (8.66%).

Urban bus fares, with hike of 5.69%, were a highlight in the groupTransportation, considering the price adjustments registered in the following areas:

In Transportation also had significant figures coming from train (6.12%), subway (5.27%), municipal bus (5.04%) and taxi fares (3.65%), besides the liter of etanol (4.92%) and gasoline (1.20%).

Among the items that for the remaining groups of products and services surveyed, the highlights are:

• TV, Sound and Computer Equipment– 3.43%
• Cigarrette – 2.61%
• Personal hygiene – 1.64%
• Water and sewage fare – 1.64%
• Dental and medical care – 1.45%
• Cleaning products – 1.40%
• Health insurance – 1.06%

As for regional indexes, the highest was recorded by Salvador (2.26%), where food items rose by 4.59%. The lowest index was recorded by Brasília (1,.1%), due to the decrease of the 13.14% in the item airfares, which, with a 1.79% decline, led to an impact of -0.24 p.p. in the month. See below the results by area surveyed.

In order to estimate the IPCA-15, prices were collected from January 15, 2015 to February 15, 2016 (reference) and compared with those in force from December 12, 2015 to r January 14, 2016 (base). The indicator refers to families 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, and also Brasília and Goiânia. The methodology is the same as the one used for IPCA; the difference lies in the period of price collection and in the geographic coverage.