The Extended Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.69% in December and stood 0.15 percentage points above the 0.54% rate recorded in November. As a result, IPCA-E, which is the accumulated IPCA-15, closed the year at 5.78%, below the rate of 2011 (6.56%). In December of 2011, the rate was 0.56%.

The complete data of IPCA-15 can be accessed at www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/precos/ipca15/defaultipca15.shtm.

Information on IPCA-E is available at www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/precos/ipcae/default.shtm.

Personal expenses (from 0.30% in November to 1.10% in December) was the group with the highest result and the largest growth from one month to the other. Of note was the change in the wages of the domestic workers (from 0.66% to 0.82%), as well as in the items tour (from 0.40% to 12.15%) and cigarette (from zero to 2.66%). Up 9.40%, personal expenses were the second group with the greatest change in the accumulated index of 2012, standing only behind food products (9.84%).  The domestic workers’s wages, which rose 12.75%, were the highlight in the group due to the leadership in terms of the main impact in the index in the year.

The group food and beverages (from 0.83% in November to 0.97% in December) rose because of products such as pullet (from 1.43% to 4.16%), milk (from 1.39% to 2.03% ) and fruits (from 0.43% to 1.27%).  In the year, food products were the leaders in terms of changes among the groups, with 9.84%. Several items in the group posted significant high rates, with impact on the index, as, for example, cassava flour (84.90%), rice (37.00%) and carioca beans (37.74%).

The expenses with housing (from 0.33% in November to 0.74% in December) also rose.  That is mostly attributable to the increase in electricity (from 0.09% to 1.72%) given the changes observed in the metropolitan regions of Rio de Janeiro (7.07%) and Belém (4.16%). Up 6.67% in the year, the group housing stands out due to the rise in residential rent (8.98%) and in manpower for small repairs (11.72%).

Transportation (from 0.47% in November to 0.71% in December) was another group that accelerated in December considering that the change in airfares became even higher, reaching 17.08%, in December, after a rise of 11.80%, in November. The group transportation, on its turn, stood with 0.63% in the year, only surpassing household articles (-0.18%). Another highlight in the year in transportation was the drop of new (-5.82%) and used automobiles (-10.36%).

In order to estimate IPCA-15, the prices collected from November 14 to December 11 of 2012 (reference) were compared to those in force from October 12 to November 13 of 2012 (base). The indicator refers to families with monthly income of one to 40 minimum wages and it encompasses the metropolitan regions 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.  

In the month, the groups that lost pace were articles of apparel (from 1.40% in November to 0.62% in December), which presented the most significant difference, taking the group’s change to 6.39% in the year.

Household articles (from 0.58% in November to 0.11% in December) followed apparel, posting strong reductions in the growth rate of prices in the month. Considering the year, however, household articles (-0.18%) were the group with the lowest result.

Health and personal care (from 0.36% in November to 0.26% in December) also reduced the rate in December, with a change of 5.90% in the year.  

As for the groups education (from 0.04% in November to 0.10% in December) and communication (from 0.30% to 0.26%), they closed the year with 7.70% and 1.11%, respectively.

This way, the group of non-food products registered a change of 0.60%, above the previous month’s result, which was of 0.45%, accumulating 4.53% in the year.

Among the regional indexes, the highest was in Curitiba (1.14%), mainly due to the increase in the prices of gasoline (8.09%) and ethanol (5.08%).   The lowest index came from Recife (0.39%), with food products at 0.34%. In the year, the largest index stood with Belém (7.90%) and Rio de Janeiro (6.85%), whereas São Paulo (4.71%) and Brasília (5.29%) posted the lowest changes.