Driven by Education, inflation accelerates to 0.84% in February
The Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) in February was 0.84% and was 0.31 percentage points (pp) above the January rate (0.53%). In the year, the IPCA accumulates an increase of 1.37% and, in the last 12 months, of 5.60%. The result of the IPCA (Extended National Consumer Price Index) was released this Friday (10) by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
Of the nine groups of products and services surveyed, eight were discharged in February. The exception was Apparel (-0.24%), with fall for the second consecutive month. The greatest impact and the greatest change (6.28%) in the month’s index came from Education. In sequence, came Health and personal care (1.26%) and Housing (0.82%), which accelerated in relation to January. Transport (0.37%) and Food and beverages (0.16%) had changes below those of the previous month.
The 6.28% rise in Education reflects the readjustments usually practiced at the beginning of the school year. Regular courses increased by 7.58%, driven by secondary education (10.28%), elementary education (10.06%), preschool (9.58%) and daycare (7.20%). The elementary education sub-item had the greatest individual impact on the index for the month. There are also increases in higher education (5.22%), technical courses (4.11%) and postgraduate courses (3.44%).
The result of the Health and personal care group (1.26%) was mainly influenced by the rise of 2.80% in personal hygiene items. After the fall of 5.86% observed in January, perfumes were high by 7.50. In addition, the prices of skin care products rose 4.54%. Also noteworthy is the result of the health plan (1.20%), which continues to incorporate the monthly installments of the new and old plans, referring to the 2022-2023 cycle.
In the Housing group (0.82%), the major contribution came from residential electricity (1.37%). The second biggest contribution came from residential rent, with a 0.88% increase.
In Transport (0.37%), the major contribution came from gasoline (1.16%), the only fuel with increase in February. Ethanol (-1.03%), vehicular gas (-2.41%) and diesel oil (-3.25%) had decreases of more than 1%. Another highlight was air tickets, which fell by 9.38%, contributing to the deceleration of the group compared to January (0.55%).
The only group with negative change in February, Apparel (-0.24%) was driven by the declines in men’s clothing (-0.58%) and women’s (-0.45%), and jewelery (-0.72 %).
