The rate was lower than the November figure (0.78%), due to the reduced contribution of transportation and food products. IPCA-E was below the 7.54% registered in 2004.

The Extended Consumer Price Index –15 (IPCA-15) changed by 0.38% in December and was lower than the rate of 0.78% of the previous month. The reduced contribution from transportation (with fall from 1.31% in November to 0.38% this month) and from food products (from 0.99% to 0.40%) caused the rate to decrease. Prices of gasoline, which rose 1.26% in November, were relatively stable (0.04%). Alcohol changed from 7.66% to 1.09%. Airplane tickets, which had reached 13.21%, increased to 2.74%; bus fares changed from 1.48% to 0.48%.

In the group food products, the fall of prices of meats (from 5.58% to 0.30%) also affected the items chicken (from 1.79% to 0.58%), jerky (from 5.86% to 0.26%) and fish (from 2.07% to 0.77%). On the other hand, other products had significant rises: potatoes (from 16.68% to 36.01%), tomatoes (from 8.98% to 37.44%), onions (from 1.03% to 15.10%) and carrots (from 7.10% to 15.14%).

Other items exerted less influence in the December figures: apparel (from 1.15% to 0.68%), domestic employees (from 1.07% to 0.65%) and recreation (from 1.07% to 0.35%). Electricity (from 1.27% to 1.32%) was the most relevant individual contribution (0.06 percentage points), reflecting the readjustment occurred in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro.

Among the surveyed areas, the highest result was obtained in Recife (0.99%), due to the contribution of 2.14% in the prices of gas and of 4.83% in the prices of gasoline.

IPCA-E ended the year with a rate of 5.88%

Having accumulated a rate of 1.73% in the last quarter, IPCA-E ended 2005 with a rate inferior to the 7.54% registered in 2004. In 2005, urban bus fares rose 11.00% and accounted for 0.55 percentage points of IPCA-E, representing the main individual impact. Gasoline rose by 10.48% and contribution of 0.46 percentage points.

Other items influenced the result of the year: airplane tickets (28.28%), water and sewage treatment (13.37%), domestic employees (11.52%) fixed telephony (6.37%), schools (7.72%), medicines (5.99%), health care insurance (12.02%) and electric energy (7.79%). Added to gasoline and bus fares, these items were responsible for 3.24 percentage points of contribution, almost 60% of the result of this year.

Food products, with 2.15% of change and 0.48 percentage points of contribution, rose less than in 2004 (3.64%). Few products had influence due to rises, being the highlights soft drinks (8.13%), powdered milk (12.39%), beer (4.32%), ground coffee (9.05%) and bread (4.43%). Several food products were cheaper, for instance: rice (-24.01%), soybean oil (-17.96%), "carioca" beans (-8.06%), noodles (-5.07%), cassava flour (-9.01%), wheat flour (-8.31%) and cod fish (-7.02%). By groups of products, the results in 2004 and 2005 are the following:

As for regional indexes, as shown in the table below, the metropolitan area of Recife (7.64%) had the highest result, whereas Curitiba (4.85%) the lowest one.

IPCA-15 refers to families whose monetary income, from any source, ranges from 1 to 40 minimum wages. It encompasses the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador and Curitiba, besides Brasília and Goiânia. The methodology applied is the same as that of IPCA. The difference between the two indexes lies in the period of data collection. Prices of the calculation of IPCA-15 were collected between November 15 and December 13 and compared to those in effect between October 12 and November 14. IPCA-E is IPCA-15 accumulated each quarter of the year.

The complete tables are available on the IBGE web site (

www.ibge.gov.br). Click on the text and then on "Conjuncture Indicator".