The Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) presented a variation of 0.75% in January, being twice as high as the 0.37% rate recorded in December. It is the highest result since May 2008 (0.79%). With the result of January, the index of the last 12 months was 4.59%, above the immediately previous 12 months (4.31%). IPCA of January 2009 was 0.48%.

The group Food Products and Beverages (that accounts for 22.5% of the index) recorded a marked price increase, changing from 0.24% in December to 1.13% in January. With this result, the group presented a contribution of 0.25 percentage point and was responsible for a third of IPCA in the month. The rise in food prices may be explained principally by the beginning of the time between harvests and the occurrence of rains that have damaged crops of important producing centers. The biggest increases were observed in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, with the group reaching 2.07%, according to the following table.

Considering decreases, not many food products stood out, as shown in the table below. Tomatoes, 13.4% cheaper, had the most intense negative contribution: 0.02 percentage point.

With the rise in urban buses fares, fuels and other items, consumers started to spend more on Transportation (1.45%), a group that accounts for 19.3% in family expenses and had a greater variation than food products, being the major contribution in the group (0.28 percentage point). There were rises also in intercity buses (2.94%), under the influence of Rio de Janeiro (7.66%), Belo Horizonte (4.47%), Salvador (3.20%) and Belém (1.17%), besides fares of intestate buses (1.33%). For consumers who have their own vehicle, besides fuels, there were rises in car insurance (1.63%), parking (1.16%), accessories and pieces (0.97%) and repair (0.70%).

Regarding the surveyed areas, the highest results were observed in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, both with 1.00%. In Rio de Janeiro, food products presented the greatest variation (2.07%), and in São Paulo, besides food products (1.14%), urban buses presented a result of 14.53%. The lowest index came from the metropolitan area of Recife (0.20%), where food products changed by 0.47%, cooking gas in cylinder and gasoline presented decreases of 1.07% and 1.17%, respectively.

For the calculation of monthly indexes, prices collected from December 30, 2009, to January 28, 2010 (reference), were compared to those from November 28 to December 29, 2009 (base). IPCA has been calculated by IBGE since 1980, and it refers to families with monetary income ranging from 01 to 40 minimum wages, whatever the source, encompassing nine metropolitan areas in the country, besides the municipality of Goiânia and Brasília.

INPC of January was 0.88%

The National Consumer Price Index (INPC) presented a variation of 0.88% in January, 0.64 percentage point above the result of December (0.24%). Considering the last 12 months, the index was 4.36% above the 12 immediately previous months (4.11%). In January 2009, INPC had been 0.64%.

The variation of food products was 1.13% in January, whereas non-food products increased by 0.77%. In December, results were 0.13% and 0.29%, respectively.

Among the surveyed areas, the major result was recorded in São Paulo (1.55%), where urban buses presented the result of 14.53% because of the readjustment of 17.40% from January 4. The lowest index was recorded in Brasília (0.14%), where food products presented the smallest variation (0.33%).

INPC has been calculated by IBGE since 1979, and it refers to families with monetary income ranging from 01 to 06 minimum wages, with a salaried head of the household, encompassing nine metropolitan areas in the country, besides the municipality of Goiânia and Brasília. For the calculation of the monthly index, prices collected from December 30, 2009 to January 28 (reference) were compared to those from November 28 to December 29, 2009 (base).

In the average of the surveyed areas, the kilograms of carrots and potatoes were, respectively, 12.21% and 10.80% more expensive, whereas the prices of vegetables increased by 8.44%. Beans (1.19%) and rice (3.26%) also recorded increases, as well as meats (1.67%) and milk (1.88%). The main food products on the rise are listed as follows.

However, despite the strong rise of food products prices, fares of urban buses stood out with the main individual impact on IPCA in the month (3.90%) and 0.14 percentage point of contribution. Fuels came next, with a variation of 2.08% and 0.10 point. These two items, together, urban buses and fuels, contributed with 0.24 percentage point, which represents a third of the index in January.

The variation of 3.90% of buses was significantly influenced by the result of 14.35% in São Paulo, consequence of the readjustment of 17.40% in the fares, which changed from R$ 2.30 to R$ 2.70 on January 4. There was an increase in Salvador, where the variation was 1.82%, considering the readjustment of 4.18% that started on January 16, when the fares changed from R$ 2.20 to R$ 2.30. As regards fuels, a strong increase was recorded for the prices of alcohol, which became 11.09% more expensive, affecting gasoline, which became 1.33% more expensive.

With these increases, among others, non-food products had a variation of 0.64%, above the 0.41% from December of last year. Below are the results by group of product and services surveyed.