The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15) of March is 0.69%, and was 0.07 percentage points (p.p.) below the February figure (0.76%).

The IPCA-E, cumulative IPCA-15 by quarter, stood at 2.01%, below the 2.54% registered in the same period in 2022. The cumulative IPCA-15 in the last 12 months is 5.36%, below the rate of 5.87% recorded in the immediately previous 12 months. In March 2022, IPCA-15 stood at 0.95%.

Among the nine groups of products and services surveyed, eight rose in March. The exception was Household articles, with a decrease of 0.18%. The highest change (1.50%) and the biggest impact (0.30 p.p.) came from Transportation, which accelerated in relation to the February result (0.08%). Other groups were Health and personal care (1.18%) and Housing (0,81%), which accounted for 0.15 p.p. and 0.12 p.p., respectively. Food and beverages (0.20%) decelerated from the previous month, when it registered 0.39%. The other groups stood between 0.08% in Educationand 0.75% inCommunication.

The rise of Transportation (1.50%) was driven by the increase of 5.76% in the prices of gasoline, a subitem that accounted for the main individual impact on the IPCA-15 of March (0.26 p.p.). Also, there was also an increase in the prices of ethanol (1,96%), which had fallen 1.65% in February. Diesel (-4.86%) and vehicle gas (-2.62%), in turn, registered decrease, differently from the other fuels (4.67%). It is worth mentioning the rise of 9.02% in ride sharing services, after a drop of 6.05% in February.

Also in Transportation, the positive change of urban buses (0.21%) was due to the price adjustment of 9.09% in fares in Curitiba (4.18%), in effect since March 1st. Regarding intercity buses, (0.88%), it is worthy of mention that the average price adjustment of 11.80% in fares, in effect since February 18 in Rio de Janeiro (8.41%), where train fares (43.13%) were also adjusted: prices for the general public rose 48% starting on February 9. Thus, the national change of the subitem stood at 17.34%. The rise of 1.04% in the subitem taxi is a consequence of the price adjustment in Belo Horizonte (10.83%), in effect since February 13. At last, it is worth mentioning the adjustment in some toll stations in Porto Alegre (9.23%) and Curitiba (0.27%).

Regarding Health and Personal Care (1.18%), the main contribution (0.06 p.p.) came from perfumes (5.88%), whose prices fell by 1.66% in February. As a result, personal hygiene items recorded an increase of 2.36% in the IPCA-15 of March, also influenced by make-up articles (3.81%), soaps (1.85%) and hair products (1.34%). Besides, health insurance (1.20%) still encompasses monthly shares of price adjustmen for new and existing contracts for the period 2022 - 2023.

In the group Housing (0.81%), the highlight was residential electricity, with a hike of 2.85% and a contribution of 0.11 p.p. The changes in areas ranged between -1.13% in Rio de Janeiro, with a drop of PIS/COFINS and 11.66% in Belo Horizonte, where the fares for use of transmission (TUST) and distribution systems (TUSD) were reincluded in the ICMS database, which also occurred in Porto Alegre (10.76%) and Curitiba (10.42%), and in one of the concessionnaires in São Paulo (1.12%). In Rio de Janeiro, there was price adjustment of 7.49% and 6.00% in the two concecionnaires surveyed, both in effect from March 15, last period of reference of IPCA-15.

Also in Housing, the hike of water and sewage fares (0.48%) results from the price adjustments of 11.81% in Salvador (6.60%), in effect since January 30, and of 3.54% in Fortaleza (1.80%), in effect since January 28. Piped gas (-0.60%) recorded a decrease, as a consequence of the reduction by 2.86% of fares in Rio de Janeiro (-1.89%), in force since February 1st.

Deceleration of Food and beverages (from 0.39% in February to 0.20% in March) was due to more significant decreases in the prices of potato (-13.14%) and tomato (-6.34%). Also, drops were also observed in the prices of onions (-12.13%), of soybean (-2.47%), of sirloin (-2.04%) and chicken pieces (-1.94%). In terms of decreases, hen eggs, with arise in prices of 8.00% in March, stood out.

Food away from home changed from 0.40% in February to 0.68% in March. Both snacks (1.02%) and meals (0.50%) recorded changes above those in the previous month (with hikes of 0.78% and 0.16%, respectively).

The result of Household articles (-0.18%), the only group with a drop in March, was influenced by the decrease in 1.81% of items in television, sound and computing, mainly tv sets (-1.89%) and personal computers (-1.68%).

Regarding regional indexes, all the areas surveyed recorded rises of prices in March. Porto Alegre and Curitiba recorded the biggest changes, both with 1.13%. In both cases, the main contribution for the increase came from electricity, with changes of 10.76% and 10.42%, respectively. The lowest result was that of Salvador (0.37%), influenced by drops of 10.35% in airfares and of 9.13% in voluntary car insurance.

In order to estimate IPCA-15, the prices collected from February 11 to March 15, 2022 (reference) of 2023 were compared with the ones in force from January 13 to February 10, 2023 (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, besides Brasília and the municipality of 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.