The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.79% in December and more than doubled the rate of November (0.38%). As a result, IPCA-E, which is the cumulative IPCA-15, closed the year at 6.46%, above 2013's (5.85%). In December of 2013, IPCA-15 changed 0.75%. The complete of IPCA-15 data can be accessed at www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/precos/ipca15/defaultipca15.shtm.

As shown in the following table, the result of most products and services surveyed surpassed the previous month's result.

In December, the groups food and beverages (0.56% in November to 0.94% in December) and transportation (0.20% to 1.59%) exerted strong pressure on the index and were responsible for 65.82% of it, since, together, they had an impact of 0.52 percentage points, with food products at 0.23 p.p. and transportation, at 0.29 p.p.

The group Transportation recorded the biggest change (1.59%) and the greater impact (0.29 p.p). The item airfares was a highlight, with increases of 42.42% and 0.19 p.p, the main impact of month. Gasoline (2.15% and 0.08 p.p.) was also a highlight, reflecting, in the gas stations, the complement of the increase of 3.00% in force since November 07.

With December's significant high, airfares left behind a drop of 24.78% accumulated from January to November to close the year with a high of 7.13%, a little above IPCA-15, whereas gasoline stood at 5.42%, below the index. The group transportation closed the year with a change of 4.15%, also below IPCA-15.

In the group of food products (0.94%), the highlight is the item meat, whose prices rose 4.02%, but in Salvador the high reached 7.83% and in Goiânia, 7.81%. Other important items also became more expensive from November to December, like potatoes (27.20%), onions (9.83%) and meal away from home (1.37%). Regarding the index in the year, the item meat, with 22.22%, had the highest individual impact, 0.54 p.p. In the group food and beverages the high was of 7.91% in the year.

In the group housing (0.71%), it was electricity that exerted pressure. The increase was of 1.54% in the bills, mostly due to a change of 9.85% recorded in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro, because of the increase of 17.75% in one of the concessionaires, in force since November 07. In the year, the high of electricity reached 17.14% and the expenses with  housing rose 8.76%, the highest change in the group.

Thus, except for the groups household articles (0.31% in November to 0.05% in December) and education (from 0.18% to 0.10%), the others accelerated the pace of price growth from November to December.

The highest regional indexes were in Goiânia (1.33%) and Rio de Janeiro (1.32%). In Goiânia, the pressure came from food at home (3.87%), leveraged by meat, which rose 7.81%, besides fuels (4.24%), with a high of 4.44% in gasoline and 3.15% in ethanol. In Rio de Janeiro (1.32%), the highest result of the month was due to electricity (9.85%), which reflected the increase of 17.75% in one of the concessionaires, in force since November 7.  The lowest index was in Recife (0.37%), where food products increased 0.03%, quite below the average of this group for the country (0.94%).

In order to estimate IPCA-15, prices were collected from November 13 to December 12 (reference) and compared with those in force from October 14 to November 12 (base). The indicator refers to families with a 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.