Nossos serviços estão apresentando instabilidade no momento. Algumas informações podem não estar disponíveis.

IPCA at 0.25% in February

March 11, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: March 12, 2020 04h18 PM

The Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) of February increased by 0.25%, after changing 0.21% in January. It was the lowest result for a February since 2000, when the index stood at 0.13%. In the year, the IPCA accumulated an increase of 0.46% and, in the last 12 months, of 4.01%, below the 4.19% of the previous 12 months. In February 2019, the rate was 0.43%. 

Period RATE
February 2020 0.25%
January 2020 0.21%
February 2019 0.43%
Cumulative in the year 0.46%
Cumulative in 12 months 4.01%


The biggest impact on the month's index, 0.23 percentage points (p.p.), came from the Education group, which also recorded the largest change (3.70%) among the nine groups of products and services surveyed. Another four groups also recorded highs, with a highlight to Health and personal care (0.73% change and 0.10 pp impact) and Food and beverages (0.11% change and 0.02 pp impact). Concerning the falls, the most intense negative contribution (-0.06 pp) came from Housing (-0.39%), while the biggest fall was with Wearing Apparel (-0.73%). The other groups were between the drop of 0.23% in Transportation and the rise of 0.31% in Personal Expenses.

IPCA - Change and impact by groups - monthly
Group Change (%) Impact (pp)
January February January February
General Index 0.21 0.25 0.21 0.25
Food and Beverage 0.39 0.11 0.07 0.02
Housing 0.55 -0.39 0.08 -0.06
Household articles -0.07 -0.08 0.00 0.00
Wearing Apparel -0.48 -0.73 -0.02 -0.03
Transportation 0.32 -0.23 0.06 -0.05
Health and pesonal care -0.32 0.73 -0.04 0.10
Personal Expenses 0.35 0.31 0.04 0.03
Education 0.16 3.70 0.01 0.23
Communication 0.12 0.21 0.01 0.01
Source: IBGE, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Coordenação de Índices de Preços   

The rise in the Education group (3.70%) is the result of the adjustments usually occurred at the beginning of the school year, especially those of regular courses (4.42%), which is responsible for the largest individual contribution (0.20 pp) to the IPCA of February. Other courses (2.67%) also registered an increase, with an impact of 0.02 p.p. on the result of the month.

In Health and personal care (0.73%), the highlight was with personal hygiene items, which rose 2.12%, with an impact of 0.08 pp in February, after the fall of 2.07% in the previous month . On the other hand, the prices of pharmaceutical products (-0.38%) fell in comparison with January, contributing with -0.01 pp.

The result of Food and beverages (0.11%) was once again affected by the fall in meat prices (-3.53%), which had already decreased 4.03% in the previous month. With the deflation observed in February, meat had the greatest negative impact on the monthly index (-0.09 pp) and contributed to the slowdown in food at home (0.06%). Highlights also for tomatoes (18.86%) and carrots (19.83%), which accumulated changes of 35.17% and 36.51% in the year, respectively.

Food away from home (0.22%) also slowed down comapred to January. Both meals (0.35%) and snacks (0.02%) showed minor changes when compared to the previous month.

The Wering apparel group (-0.73%) had a more intense fall compared to January (-0.48%), influenced by the negative changes in the items women's apparel (-1.23%), men's apparel (-1.05% ), footwear and accessories (-0.46%) and also in kidswear (-0.34%). On the other hand, jewelry and bijous (1.32%) rose for the eighth consecutive month.

After an increase of 0.55% in January, the Housing group recorded deflation of 0.39%, due to the item electricity (-1.71%), whose impact on the month's index was -0.08 pp. In February, the green tariff flag came into force, without the additional charge on the electricity bill. With the exception of Vitória (2.32%) and Fortaleza (0.25%), all areas showed negative changes.

Also in Housing, the result of piped gas (0.18%) stands out, due to the increases in Rio de Janeiro (-0.81%), in Curitiba (4.49%) and São Paulo (-0, 05%). The water and sewage fee (0.03%), in turn, had a positive change due to the 6.43% tariff increase in Campo Grande (1.14%).

The Transportation group (-0.23%) had deflation in February, after the 0.32% increase observed in January. The biggest negative impacts in the group came from gasoline (-0.72%) and airfare (-6.85%), both with -0.04 pp. On February 20, Petrobras increased by 3.00% the price of gasoline at refineries, after the announcement made in the previous month of a reduction in prices, also by 3.00%, as of January 13.

Analysing the highs, the highlights of Transportion were the increases in several types of public transportation, such as urban buses (0.36%), intercity buses (1.95%), trains (0.87%) and the subway (0.55%).

Finally, the other highlight is the positive change of the Communication group (0.21%), due to the price rise of postal services, which led the mail item to an increase of 17.30%, with an impact of 0.01 pp in the month's index.

As for the regional indices, only the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro (-0.02%) had deflation in February, given the fall in meat prices (-8.39%), which contributed -0.18 pp to the result of the area. The greatest positive change was found in the metropolitan area of Fortaleza (0.80%), due to the increase in regular courses (5.86%).

IPCA - Change by Areas - monthly, cumulative in the year and in 12 months
Area Weight by Area (%) Change (%) Cumulative indices (%)
January February Year 12 months
Fortaleza 3.23 0,28 0,80 1,08 5,25
Aracaju 1.03 0,39 0,66 1,05 4,34
Belo Horizonte 9.69 0,20 0,50 0,70 3,67
Rio Branco 0.51 -0,21 0,49 0,28 3,04
Campo Grande 1.57 0,13 0,42 0,55 4,48
Recife 3.92 0,30 0,38 0,68 3,52
Brasília 4.06 -0,12 0,35 0,22 4,12
Vitória 1.86 0,29 0,33 0,63 3,05
São Paulo 32.28 0.33 0.23 0.56 4.33
Belém 3.94 0.39 0.21 0.61 4.86
São Luís 1.62 -0.19 0.18 -0.01 3.73
Goiânia 4.17 0.10 0.18 0.28 3.93
Salvador 5.99 0.34 0.16 0.50 3.88
Porto Alegre 8.61 0.17 0.16 0.33 4.19
Curitiba 8.09 0.05 0.08 0.13 3.91
Rio de Janeiro 9.43 0.05 -0.02 0.03 3.09
Brazil 100.00 0.21 0.25 0.46 4.01

The IPCA has been calculated by the IBGE since 1980, it refers to families with income of one to 40 minimum wages, whatever the source, and covers ten metropolitan areas of the country, in addition to the municipalities of Goiânia, Campo Grande, Rio Branco, São Luís, Aracaju and Brasília.

For the calculation of the monthly index, prices collected from January 29 to March 2, 2020 (reference) were compared with those in force from December 28, 2019 to January 28, 2020 (base).

INPC changes 0.17% in February

The National Consumer Price Index (INPC) in February changed by 0.17%, while in January it had registered 0.19%. This result is the lowest for a February since 2000, when it was 0.05%. The cumulative change in the year was 0.36% and, in the last 12 months, it increased by 3.92%, below the 4.30% registered in the 12 months prioir to that period. In February 2019, the rate was 0.54%.

Food products rose 0.13% in February while, in the previous month, they registered 0.45%. The group of non-food products, in turn, changed by 0.18%, while in January it had registered 0.12%.

The metropolitan area of Fortaleza (0.84%) had the highest index, mainly due to the increases in regular courses (6.09%). The lowest result was the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro (-0.21%), influenced by the fall in meat prices (-8.52%).

INPC - Change by Areas - monthly, cumulative in the year and in 12 months
Area Weight by Area (%) Change (%) Cumulative indices (%)
January February Year 12 months
Fortaleza 5.16 0.30 0.84 1.13 5.09
Rio Branco 0.72 -0.16 0.64 0.48 3.17
Aracaju 1.29 0.31 0.49 0.79 3.82
Recife 5.60 0.25 0.42 0.66 3.26
Belo Horizonte 10.35 0.27 0.42 0.70 3.70
Vitória 1.91 0.25 0.36 0.61 2.87
Campo Grande 1.73 0.16 0.35 0.50 4.30
São Luís 3.47 -0.28 0.32 0.05 3.78
Brasília 1.97 -0.04 0.25 0.22 3.56
Belém 6.95 0.55 0.16 0.71 5.12
Salvador 7.92 0.31 0.16 0.47 3.86
Porto Alegre 7.15 0.25 0.10 0.35 4.34
Goiânia 4.43 0.06 0.05 0.10 4.18
São Paulo 24.60 0.25 0.04 0.29 4.07
Curitiba 7.37 -0.01 -0.06 -0.07 3.96
Rio de Janeiro 9.38 -0.17 -0.21 -0.38 2.62
Brazil 100.00 0.19 0,17 0.36 3.92

For the calculation of the monthly index, the prices collected in the period from January 29 to March 2, 2020 (reference) were compared with the prices in force from December 28, 2019 to January 28, 2020 (base).

The INPC has been calculated by the IBGE since 1979, it refers to families with income of one to five minimum wages, with a salaried head, and covers ten metropolitan areas of the country, in addition to the municipalities of Goiânia, Campo Grande, Rio Branco, São Luís, Aracaju and Brasília.