Brazil economy reports 0.23% deflation in June

The country's official inflation, the National Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA), closed out negative in June—a deflation of 0.23%, the first reported in 11 years. The value stood at 0.54 percentage points above the positive 0.31% from May.

Figures were released today (Jul 7) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The numbers close the first half-year at 1.18%, considerably lower than then 4.42% seen in the same period the year before. Considering the first six months of the year, the result is the lowest in the current time series.

Compared to the last 12 months, the accumulated rate reached 3%—lower than the 3.6% from the 12 previous months.

The data indicate that the three sets of goods and services that amount to nearly 60% of all household expenses showed deflation in June: food (-0.5%), housing (-0.77%), and transport (-0.52%), with the most dramatic declines, which contributed significantly to this month's deflation.

“Particularly striking is that lows were reported for the three most important groups in home budget, which made an impact on people's main costs: food, housing, and transportation,” said Eulina Nunes, IBGE coordinator for prince indexes.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira