The Extended National Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) changed 0.70% in February and stood close to the rate registered in January (0.67%). The change was at 1.37% for the first two months of the year. In the cumulative index in the last 12 months, IPCA-15 stood at 5.65%, close to the preceding 12 months (5.63%). In February 2013, the rate was at 0.68%.

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

The group of education rose 6.05% in February, accounting for 0.27 percentage points of the index. These figures reflected the price adjustments in the beginning of the school year, particularly those of regular courses, which rose 7.65% and became the highest individual influence this month (0.22 percentage points). With the exception of Fortaleza, which did not report any increase due to a different date of adjustment, the courses in the other areas changed from 3.44% in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre to 11.72% in Rio de Janeiro. The monthly tuitions of other courses (foreign languages, computes sciences, etc.) changed 5.93%.

Household articles (from 0.49% in January to 1.17% in February) and personal expenses (from 1.31% to 1.19%) were the groups which registered the highest figures after education. The prices of household appliances increased 2.82% and highly influenced  household articles, whereas personal expenses were pressed by items domestic workers (1.41%) and cigarettes (4.74%). In the case of cigarettes, the result reflected part of the adjustment of 14% in force since December 31, in addition to the adjustment of 12% on January 13 concerning some brands and areas.

The group of food and beverages stayed at 0.52% against the rise of 0.96% in January, since that food at home changed from 1.01% to 0.25%. A number of important products became cheaper, like potatoes (-10.66%), tomatoes (-5.60%), milk (-5.07%), carioca beans (-4.27%) and chicken (-1.04%).

Two groups dropped: wearing apparel (from 0.59% in January to -0.68% in February) and transportation (from 0.43% to -0.09%). By changing -20.36%, Airfare exerted the strongest downward pressure on the IPCA-15 this month (-0.11 percentage points).

Among the regional indexes, the highest rate was in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro (0.95%), in which residential rent increased 2.77% and domestic workers, 2.85%. Urban (1.82%) and intercity buses (4.36%) also pressed the results in this area, reflecting the adjustments of 9.00% in the urban buses, in force since February 8, and of  5.77% in the intercity buses, granted on January 13. The lowest rate was recorded in Brasília (0.06%), as a result of the drop of 28.38% in the prices of airfare, which caused an impact of -0.64 percentage points, based on a weight of 2.27%.

In order to estimate IPCA-15, prices were collected from January 16 to February 13 (reference) and compared with those in effect from December 13 to January 15 (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.