The Extended National Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) changed 0. 69% in December and ...

The Extended National Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) changed 0. 69% in December and was below the result of November (0.86%). With this result, the Special Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA-E) closed the year at 5.79%, above the 4.18% of 2009. In December 2009, IPCA-15 had been 0.38%.

One of the causes for the reduction of the December IPCA-15 is the deceleration of food prices, which changed from 2.11% in November to 1.84% in December, pushing the contribution of 0.48 percentage point to 0.43 this month. Even though, the result of the group Food and Beverages was expressive, equivalent to 62% of IPCA-15.

Part of the surveyed products presented a slower rate of price growth, like crystallized sugar (from 14.05% in November to 4.12% in December), French roll (from 1.88% to 0.25%) and pasteurized milk (from 1.53% to 1.47%). Others became even cheaper between months, for instance, carioca beans (from 10.83% to 12.72%), black turtle beans (from 7.15% to 0.46%) and potatoes (from 9.96% to 3.62%).

But meat prices continued increasing, and the kilogram became, on average, 8.32% more expensive in December after the 6.10% rise of November. Besides chicken, whose prices rose 5.31% in December and 3.33% in November, and dried meat, with 9.12% in December and 2.73% in the previous month. Individually, the item meat exerted the major impact in December, with 0.21 percentage point, thus accounting for 30% of the month index result.

The rate of non-food products was 0.34% in December, below the 0.49% of the previous month. Several important items presented slighter variations than in November or even price drops, with highlights being ethanol (from 6.75% in November to 2.13% in December), gasoline (from 1.92% to 0.07%), salaries of domestic workers (from 1.34% to 0.73%), apparel articles (from 1.17% to 0.96%), residential rent (from 1.05% to 0.73%), and TV, stereo and computer items (from -1.35% to -3.45%).

Rising between November and December, the highlights were plane tickets (from -1.28% to 7.62%) and urban buses (from 0.07% to 0.30%) due to the 2.13% readjustment of fares in Rio de Janeiro in effect since November 6.

Among regional indexes, the major rises were experienced in Fortaleza (1.02%) and Belém (1.01%), having in mind the strong influence of food products (2.77% and 2.46%, respectively). The lowest index was that of Salvador (0.50%), where prices of ethanol and gasoline decreased 0.46% and 0.51%, respectively.

In the year, the metropolitan area of Belém (7.03%) also stood out, presenting the widest variation due to, basically, the high fares of electricity (15.45%) and urban buses (8.82%), besides the rise of food items (11.10%). The lowest index was reported in the metropolitan area of Recife (4.34%), where electricity presented a decrease of 9.74%, and gas cylinders decreased 9.4%.

The group Food Products and Beverages (10.16%) was much above the result of 2009 (3.08%). Contributing with 2.29 percentage point, it was the main responsible for the year index result, and accounted for 40% of the IPCA-15 accumulated in 2010. Meat, with a 30.52% rise, and meals at restaurants, with 10.50%, were the items that most contributed to the result in the year: 0.66 and 0.45 percentage point, respectively.

Non-food products were at 4.52% this year, very close to the 4.51% of 2009. Among major variations, salary of domestic workers (11.82%), urban buses (7.55%) and residential rent (7.42%) stood out.

On the other hand, some items had subtle variations or prices drops during the year, with highlights being: gasoline (1.46%), TV, stereo and computer articles (-11.67%), new (-1.81%) and used automobiles (-1.21%).

For the calculation of IPCA-15, prices collected from November 13 to December 13 were compared to those in effect from October 14 t o November 12. The indicator refers to families with monthly income ranging from one to 40 minimum wages and 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 is the same as that used for IPCA; the difference lies in the price collection period. IPCA-E is IPCA-15 accumulated in periods.