The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 - IPCA-15 of February is 0.34%, with slight acceleration against the rate of Janaury (0.30%). Together with February 2000 (-0.34%), that change was the smallest for a month of February since the beginning of Plano Real, in 1994.  The cumulative index in the year is 0.64%, and in the last 12 months, 3.73%, a result below the 3.77% recoreded in the previous 12 months.  In February 2018, the rate was 0.38%.

Education recorded the biggest change (3.52%) and accounted for the main impact (0.17 p.p). on the index.  Transportation(-0.46%) and Wearing apparel (-0.92%) faced deflation from January to February.  The other groups ranged from 0.05% in Communication to 0.56% in Health and personal care, as shown in the following table.

The group Education increased 3.52% due to price adjustments in the beginning of the school year, mainly the rise in the monthly fees of regular courses (4.60%), an item that accounted for the main individual impact on the monthly index (-0.15 percentage points).  Miscellaneous courses rose, on the average, 3.16% with price adjustments ranging between 1.56% in Brasília and 4.02% in the metropolitan area of Curitiba.  

Food products and beverages (0.64%) decelerated in comparison with January (0.87%) due to the group food at home, which increased by 0.68% against the 1.07% in the previous month.  Meat, which had recorded an increase of 1.72% in January, fell by 0.28% in February, and tomato, he prices of which had recorded a decrease in the previous month (-8.16%), recorded a more significant decrease in February (-20.32%).  The main positive contribution among food products came from pinto beans, with 34.56% of change and 0.06 percentage points of impact.  Other items of from the consumption basket of families, for example potato (12.39%) and fruit (2.33%) also recorded increase in February.

Food away from home recorded slight acceleration from January (0.53%) to February (0.58%), with meals as a highlight, recording 0.78% against the increase of 0.39% in the previous month.

Transportation (-0.46%) accounted for the main negative impact on the IPCA-15 of February (-0.09 percentage points).  Gasoline (-2.43%) fell for the third month in a row and accounted the biggest negative individual impact in the month (-0.11 percentage points).  All the areas surveyed recorded decreases in February, ranging from -5.50% in Porto Alegre up to -1.01% in the metropolitan area of Curitiba. Ethanol (-1.31%) and diesel fuel (-0.15%) also became cheaper over the month.  The only exception among fuels (-2.05%) was natural gas (3.21%), whose result was influenced by the hike observed in the metropolitan area of São Paulo (8.27%). 

In Transportation, also, the highlights were urban bus fares (2.50%), having risen as a result of price adjustments in the following areas:

The result of intercity fares (1.54%) was influenced by the average price adjustment of 6.00% in São Paulo (5.56%), in effect since January 20, and by the decrease between 1.00% and 5.00% in Rio de Janeiro (-0.74%), from February 11 on.  In addition to that, there was a readjustment of 6.78% in fares in Belo Horizonte (2.05%), in effect since December 30th.

In São Paulo there was also a price adjustment in the fares of train (6.70%) and subway (6.70%), both starting on January 13.  In Rio de Janeiro, the highlights were the average rise of taxi fares (2.35%), in effect since January 1, 2019, and the adjustment (9.52%) in fares of train (3.81%), in effect since February 2.  It is also worth mentioning the result of air fares (-16.53%), the second main positive contribution to the monthly index, with -0.08 percentage points. 

Wearing apparel (-0.92%) faced deflation in February.  Female apparel (-1.40%), male apparel (-0.76%) and children's apparel (-0.99%) became cheaper from January to February.  Footwear, which had recorded slight increase in the previous month (0.11%), also recorded a negative change in the month (-0.80%). 

In Housing (0.18%), electricity rose 0.38% after recording decreases for four months in a row.  The areas surveyed recorded changes that range between 0.99% in Curitiba and the hike of 3.16% Fortaleza.  The green tariff flag has been in force since the beginning of December, without any extra charge in the electricity fare. 

In the same group, the rise of 3.91% in bottled gas reflects the rise of 7.20% in Rio de Janeiro (3.90%), in effect since January 1, and the adjustment of 11.46% in São Paulo (4.91%), in effect since February 1st.  At national level, a highlight is the price adjustment of 1.04% granted by Petrobrás, in refineries, in the price of bottled gas (-0.78%) on February 5th. 

As for regional indexes, Goiânia (00.04%) and Brasília (-0.15) recorded deflation from January to February, as seen in the table below.  The result of Brasília was mainly influenced by the 18.33% decrease in the price of air fares.  The main index was that of the metropolitan area of Belém (0.63%), due to the significant increase of pinto beans (50.08%) and a change in regular courses (5.91%).

In order to measure IPCA-15, prices collected from January 16 to February 12, 2015 (reference) were compared with the ones in effect from December 13 to January 15, 2019 (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.