The Extended National Consumer Price Index  15 (IPCA-15) was 0.22% in February , the lowest rate registered for the month since the beginning of the "Plano Real" (1994), and stood 0.49 percentage points (pp) below January (0.71%). In 2019, the February rate was 0.34%. The index registers a cumulative rise of 0.93% in the year and, in the last 12 months, of 4.21%. Among the nine groups of products and services surveyed, three recorded deflation in February.

This was the first release of the IPCA-15 with the new weighting structure, updated from the Consumer Expenditure Survey - POF 2017-2018.

The lowest changes came from the groups Wearing Apparel (-0.83%) and Health and personal care (0.29%), both with impact of -0.04 pp in the index of the month. Besides, the group Food and beverages (0.10%) also recorded negative change, contributing with -0.02 pp. On the other extreme, the highlight was Education, which presented both the greatest change (3.61%) and the highest impact (0.23 pp) in the IPCA-15 of February, followed by Transportation (0.20%). The other groups stood between the 0.02% in Communication and the rise of 0.31% in Personal expenses, as shown in the following table.

After presenting a slight rise in January IPCA-15 (0.10%), the group Wearing apparel recorded deflation of 0.83% in February, influenced by the drops in the prices in male apparel (-1.39%), female apparel (-0.83%) and kids wear (-0.71%). Jewels and bijous (0.64%) increased for the eighth month in a row, although there was deceleration in the comparison with January (1.03%)

The decrease in health and personal care (-0.29%) is mostly due to the items of personal hygiene (-1.71%), where a drop was observed in perfumes (-5.06%) and in skin products (-1.30%). The highest positive impact of the group came from the item health plan (0.60%), which contributed with 0.02 pp to the index of the month.

The group Food and beverages (-0.10%) also decreased in February, due to the drop in the price of meat (-5.04% in the month), which was responsible for the highest negative impact of the month (-0.13 pp).  On the other hand, there was price rise in tomatoes (28.96%) and potatoes (5.23%), which had already increased in January.

As far as food away from home (0.38%) is concerned, there was deceleration over the previous month (0.99%). While meals recorded a 0.66% high, snacks recorded a negative change (-0.25%), after a high of 1.30% in January.

But the greatest contribution to the month's index (0.23 pp) came from the group Education (3.61%), whose result reflects on the increases often occurred at the beginning of the school year, especially regular courses (4.36%), which is responsible for the greatest positive individual impact on the IPCA-15 of February, with 0.20 pp. The item miscellaneous courses (2.71%) also rose, contributing with 0.02 pp.

The deceleration in the group of Transportation (0.20%) occurred mainly because of fuels, which increases from 2.96% in January to 0.49% in February. The price of gasoline (0.21%), ethanol (2.69%) and diesel fuel (0.04%) rose less than in the previous month (2.64%, 4.98% and 1.47%, respectively). The greatest negative contribution (-0.05 pp) came from airfares (-6.68%), which decreased for the second month in a row (in January, the change was of -6.45%).

Also in Transportation the increases in the urban bus tickets (0.79%) stand out, mainly due to the adjustment of 10.00% in Brasília, in force since January 13, and of 2,32 in São Paulo, in effect since January 1st. The same adjustments were applied on train and subway tickets. The change of the item taxi (0.30%) is due to the adjustment of 2.20% in the fare of Rio de Janeiro (1.34%), in force since January 2. There were also increases in the intercity buses (2.04%) in Salvador (0.28%), São Paulo (4.25%) and Belo Horizonte (5.15%).

In  Housing (0.07%), the highlight is the change in the tariff flag in the electricity item (-0.12%). In January the flag in effect was the yellow one, which adds R$1.343 to each 100 kilowatts/hour consumed; whereas in February, the green flag entered in force, with no additional charges. The areas surveyed changed from the fall of 1.32% in Rio de Janeiro up to the rise of 2.09% in Goiânia.

There was also a high of 0.28% in piped gas, which was a consequence of the 0.94% result observed in Rio de Janeiro, where there was a rise of 2.45% in the tariffs of January 1st - despite the 1.20% reduction in effect on February 1st. The water and sewage rates (0.02%), in turn, presented a change due to the increase of 18% occurred in Belém (0.91%) in force since December 14.

Concerning the regional indexes, two out of the eleven areas surveyed recorded a deflation in February. As the following table shows, the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba recorded decrease of 0.03%.

In Rio de Janeiro, the result was influenced majorly by the decrease in the prices of meat (-10.40%). Whereas, in Curitiba, besides meat (3.45%), airfare (-11.71%) also contributed significantly for the result of the month. The highest index was recorded in the Metropolitan Area of Fortaleza (0.48%), influenced by the highs of 5.86% in regular courses and of 44.33% in tomato prices.

In order to measure IPCA-15, prices collected from January 15 to February 11, 2020 (reference) were compared with the ones in effect from December 12, 2019 to January 14, 2020 (base). The indicator refers to families 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, and also 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.