The Extended National Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.76% in January, a result which is superior to that of December (0.69%)...

The Extended National Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.76% in January, a result which is superior to that of December (0.69%). Considering the last 12 months, the rate was 6.04%, also higher than in the immediately previous 12 months (5.79%). In January 2010, the rate had been 0.52%.

The increase of IPCA-15 in January was concentrated upon important items in family budgets, such as urban bus fares. With a variation of 1.77%, they were responsible for the major impact in the month: 0.07 percentage point. The result reflected the increases of 3.48% in the metropolitan areas of Belo Horizonte and Salvador, 3.33% in São Paulo, and 1.74% in Recife. Fares of intercity buses (1.30%) and interstate buses (1.34%) also increased. Besides buses, ethanol presented a 4.31% price increase, causing gasoline to become 0.55% more expensive in January. Thus, the group transportation changed from 0.17% to 0.89%.

The group housing (from 0.51% to 0.60%) also became more expensive between months with the result of rents (from 0.73% to 1.23%) and condominium fees (from 1.04% to 1.28%), as well as household articles (from -0.34% to 0.58%), with the highlight being furniture (from 0.21% to 1.07%) and home appliances (from -0.96% to 0.56%). Consequently, non-food products recorded a 0.62% variation in January, much superior to the rate of December (0.34%).

The group food and beverages had a price growth rate with a slower pace, changing from 1.84% in December to 1.21% in January. Even though, with a 0.28 percentage point of contribution, food products were responsible for 37% of IPCA-15 in the month.

Between December and January, some food items presented growth rates with a slower pace or kept the decreasing results. Meat changed from 1.08% to 0.11%; crystallized sugar, from 4.12% to 2.07%; refined sugar, from 8.24% to 3.04%; carioca beans, from -12.72% to -16.98%), black turtle beans, from -0.46% to -3.53%; and potatoes, from -3.62% to -2.53%). Other items presented expressive increases, such as tomatoes (from -6.19% to 23.47%), onions (from -3.15% to 5.55%), carrots (from 0.20% to 25.09%), vegetables (from -1.43% to 8.57%) and fruits (from -1.16% to 3.93%).

The next table shows results by group of products and services.

Among regional indexes, the highest was recorded in Recife (1.23%), highlighting the 2.63% rise in food prices, whereas the lowest was recorded in Goiânia (0.46%), as seen in the table below.

For the calculation of IPCA-15, prices collected from December 14, 2010, to January 14, 2011, were compared to those in effect from November 13 to December 13, 2010. 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.