The National Extended Consumer Price Index - 15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.07% in July, well below that of June, which stayed at 0.38%. As a consequence, the cumulative index in the year stayed at 3.52%, above the rate of 2.91% relative to the same period of 2012. Considering the last 12 months, the index was at 6.40%, below the rate of 6.67% registered in the immediate previous 12-month period. In July 2012 the rate was at 0.33%.

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

The majority of groups of products and services decelerated from June to July, with the exception of three of them:

The groups of food products and beverages (from 0.27% in June to -0.18% in July) and of transportation (from 0.10% to -0.55%) were the main responsible for the strong decline of IPCA-15 from one month to the other. Considering food products in the 11 areas surveyed, only Curitiba did not record a deflation, changing 0.14%. The other areas registered figures between -0.93% (Goiânia) and -0.04% (São Paulo), as shown in the table below:

At this time, tomatoes, which became 16.78% cheaper, led the downward influence with -0.05 percentage points. Besides tomatoes, a number of other food products became cheaper from June to July, leading to a widespread fall. For example, the prices of carioca beans and of soybean oil dropped 3.86% and 3.13%, respectively, whereas carrots became up to 18.78% cheaper.

Next to tomatoes came ethanol (-3.71%), gasoline (-0.69%) and urban bus fares (-1.02%), each one with an impact of 0.03 percentage points. Other items in the group of transportation registered a fall in their prices in July, highlighted by voluntary vehicle insurance (-1.82%) and inter-municipal bus fares (-0.91%), as well as by subway fares and train fares, with -2.02% and -1.15%, respectively.

Household articles (from 0.68% in June to -0.06% in July) and wearing apparel (from 0.72% to -0.17%) also dropped in July, adding up to four groups with deflation.

In health and personal care (from 0.72% in June to 0.20% in July), the significant decline was caused, above all, by the prices of medicines, which dropped 0.09%, and of personal hygiene products, which fell 0.08%.

Only the groups of housing (from 0.57% in June to 0.60% in July) and of personal expenses (from 0.37% in June to 1.08% in July) were the highlights in terms of price rise. In the group of housing, important items accelerated the price change, like electric energy (from 0.01% to 0.26%) and bottled gas (from 0.01% to 0.49%). In personal expenses, the price rise is mainly due to items domestic workers (from 0.50% to 1.45%) and leisure (from 0.19% to 1.36%).

As to the regional indexes, the highest one was in Fortaleza (0.29%), mainly due to  water and sewage fees (5.20%), reflecting the price adjustment of 7.95% in force since June 24, and to the price rise of gasoline (2.19%) and ethanol (0.28%). The lowest index was in Goiânia (-0.35%), influenced by the fall of 7.53% in the prices of urban bus fares, which reduced by 10.00% since June 13:

In order to estimate IPCA-15, the prices collected from June 14 to July 12, 2013 (reference) were compared with the ones in force from May 15 to June 13, 2013 (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.