The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 - IPCA-15 changed 0.19% in November and stood 0.39 percentage points (p.p.) below the October's rate (0.58%).

This was the lowest result for November since 2003 (0.17%). The cumulative change over the year was 4.03% and, in the last 12 months, 4.39%, below the rate of 4.53% registered in the 12 immediately previous months. The rate was 0.32% in November 2017.

Of the nine groups of products and services surveyed, Housing (-0.13%), Health and personal care (-0.35%), Communication (-0.02%) and Education (-0.01%) recorded a deflation between October and November, as shown in the following table. The other groups swung between 0.02% in Wearing apparel and 0.59% in Household articles. Food and Beverages (0.54%) exerted the biggest impact on the month´s index, 0.13 p.p., which corresponded to 68% of the IPCA-15 in November. Exerting the second biggest impact (0.06 p.p.), the group of Transportation (0.31%) decelerated in relation to the previous month, when it had risen 1.65%.

The group of Food and Beverages accelerated in November (0.54%), due to the group of food at home, which increased 0.85%. This result was influenced by the rise in the prices of some items like tomatoes (50.76%) – the biggest individual impact on the month´s index (0.09 p.p.) –, potatoes (17.97%) and onion (10.01%). Conversely, long-life milk (-3.74%), ground coffee (-1.10%) and eggs (-0.45%) remained with dropping prices.

On its turn, food away from home registered a rate of -0.01% in November, highlighted by the drops in snacks (from 0.74% in October to -0.33% in November) and meals (from 0.26% in October to -0.05% in November).

The group of Transportation decelerated between October (1.65%) and November (0.31%), mainly due to fuels, which recorded 0.69% in November after rising 4.74% in the October´s IPCA-15.  Gasoline (from 4.57% to 0.05%), ethanol (from 6.02% to 3.32%) and diesel fuel (from 5.71% to 1.38%) posted lower rises in the November´s index. Having risen in the previous month, the prices of new cars (-0.38%), parts and pieces (-0.49%) and voluntary insurance of vehicles (-0.66%) also contributed to the month´s result.

In Housing (-0.13%), the item electricity (-1.46%) registered a steeper drop than that recorded in the previous month, when it had posted -0.08%. In force between June and October, the red tariff flag level 2, which adds R$ 0,05 per each kWh consumed, came into force on November 1st as a yellow one, which adds R$ 0,01 per each kWh consumed. The adjustment of 15.56% taken place in Goiânia (5.37%) and the adjustment of 6.18% recorded in Brasília (0.98%) also stood out, both in force since October 22. São Paulo (-2.05%) registered an adjustment of 15.23% in one of the concessionaires surveyed, in force since October 23.

Still in the group of Housing, the item bottled gas, which rose 0.46% in October, fell 0.37% in the November´s IPCA-15. The adjustment of 8.53% in the price of the 13-kg cylinder of bottled gas in the refineries came into force on November 6, as announced by Petrobras. The rise of 0.90% in piped gas reflected the average adjustment of 4.61% in the residential fare in Rio de Janeiro (1.73%), in force since November 1st.

The group of Health and personal care recorded the highest negative change, -0.35%, and the biggest negative impact on the month´s index (-0.04 p.p.). Pharmaceuticals (-0.28%) and items of personal hygiene (-2.56%) became cheaper in November, against the rises of 0.13% and 1.50%, respectively, in the previous month.

In regional terms, all the areas surveyed decelerated their prices between October and November (table below). The highest rise was in Goiânia (0.42%) and the lowest one, in the metropolitan area of Salvador (-0.03%), both influenced by electricity, whose changes were of 5.37% and -2.86%, respectively. In Goiânia, the adjustment of 15.56% in the fare, in force since October 22, stood out.

In order to estimate the IPCA-15, the prices collected from October 12 to November 12, 2018 (reference) were compared with the prices in force from September 14 to October 11, 2018 (base). The indicator refers to households with 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, as well as Brasília and Goiânia. The methodology is the same as the one used for the IPCA; the difference lies in the period of price collection and in the geographic coverage.