Brazil’s National Broad Consumer Price Index (ICPA), which gauges the country’s official inflation, was reported at 0.86 percent in February this year, therefore above the 0.25 percent seen in January 2021 and February last year. This is the highest increase for the month since 2016 (0.90%).
The IPCA shows accumulated inflation rates of 1.11 percent for the year and 5.2 percent for 12 months, as per data released today (Mar. 11) by the government’s statistics institute IBGE.
The main driver behind February’s inflation was transport, with 2.28 percent in the month, pulled chiefly by gasoline (7,11%). This fuel alone accounted for nearly half of the inflation in February.
“We’ve seen hikes in gasoline prices, which are data from the refineries, but a portion of them end up reaching final consumers. Early in February, for instance, we saw an eight percent increase, then another ten. These subsequent increases explain the increase,” said research manager Pedro Kislanov.
Price surges were also observed for ethanol (8.06%), diesel oil (5.40%), vehicle gas (0,69%), new automobiles (0.55%), used vehicles (0.71%), tires (1.26%), and urban buses (0.33%).
Another group contributing to inflation in the month was education—up 2.48 percent due to hikes that tend to take place in the beginning of the year.
