In order to estimate IPCA-15, prices were collected from December 12, 2012 to January 15, 2013 (reference) and compared with those in force from November 14 to December 11, 2012 (base). The indicator refers to families with monthly income of one to forty 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.  

The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.88% in January, 0.19 percentage points above the rate registered in December (0.69%). Considering the accumulated indicator in 12 months, the index was at 6.02%, also above the immediately previous 12 months (5.78%). In January 2012, the rate was at 0.65%.

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

Personal expenses (from 1.10% in December to 1.80% in January) and food products and beverages (from 0.97% to 1.45%) were the major groups responsible for the acceleration of IPCA-15 from December to January. Together, they accounted for 61% of the index in the month, with an impact of 0.54 percentage points, 0.35 p.p. coming from food products and 0.19 p.p. from personal expenses. The results by groups of products and services surveyed are shown in the following table.

Within the group personal expenses, the items cigarette (from 2.66% in December to 7.05% in January) and tours (from 12.15% to 16.18%) were the highlights, in addition to domestic workers (from 0.82% to 0.58%), hairdresser’s (from 0.49% to 0.97%) and manicure (1.83% to 1.53%).

The higher pace in the growth of the prices of food products was due to the rise of important items in the budget of families, such as: green vegetables (from 2.67% to 6.48%), carioca beans (from -0.10% to 6.25%), tomato (from 0.72% to 6.02%), onion (from -5.97% to 5.61%), chicken (from 4.16% to 5.61%), fruits (from 1.27% to 2.22%), meat (0.47% to 1.12%) and meals out of home (from 0.58% to 0.95%).

Household articles (from 0.11% in December to 0.45% in January) also accelerated from one month to the other, mainly due to the rise of the prices of household appliances (from 0.06% to 1.18%) and TV, sound and computer equipment (from -0.73% to 0.45%).

As to the group health and personal care (from 0.26% in December to 0.61% in January), the rise was due to medicines (from -0.16% to 0.24%), medical and dental services (from 0.28% to 1.22%) and toiletries (from 0.24% to 0.74%).

The group education (from 0.10% to 0.33%) was influenced by regular courses (0.20%), which in turn reflected the price increase in schools in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre (2.62%).

The group housing repeated the same figure from December, 0.74%. Some items maintained the upward trend, such as housing rental (from 0.53% to 1.56%), condominium fees (from 0.50% to 1.18%) and manpower for small repairs (from 0.27% to 0.70%). On the other hand, electricity rose 0.20% in January, after increasing 1.72% in December.

Transportation (from 0.71% in December to 0.68% in January) showed a slight deceleration, mainly due to the lower rate of airline fares, which changed from 17.08% in December to 5.18% in January. However, other items showed higher figures, such as: urban bus fares (from 0.00% to 0.34%), intercity bus fares (from 0.01% to 1.11%), new cars (from 0.41% to 0.70%), ethanol (from 1.46% to 2.20%) and gasoline (from 0.29% to 0.47%).

Apparel (from 0.62% in December to 0.12% in January) also declined in January, highlighted by women’s clothes (from 0.69% to –0.48%).

The non-food products group recorded a rate of 0.70%, above the rate of 0.60% in the previous month.

As to the regional indexes, the highest one was Belém (1.24%), mainly due to the increase in the prices of food products (2.36%).  The lowest index was Brasília (0.57%). The next table shows the monthly figures by region surveyed: