IPCA: inflation slows in May and stands at 11.73% in the last 12 months

The IPCA (Broad Consumer Price Index), the official inflation in the country, closed May at 0.47%, as reported this Thursday (9) by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). There was a deceleration in relation to the previous month, when the index was 1.06%.

In May last year, the change had been 0.83%. In 2022, the IPCA accumulates a high of 4.78% and, in the last 12 months, of 11.73%.

This is the smallest monthly change since April 2021, when the index stood at 0.31%. It is also the first time that the index has been below 1% since January this year.

The biggest impact came from the Transport group, which decelerated in relation to the previous month. Although airfare rose 18.33%, the highest individual rise of the month, fuels slowed down after expressive rises — especially gasoline, which went from 2.48% in April to 0.92% in May. The only group to show a drop was Housing (-1.7%).

The result came below market expectations. Analysts interviewed by the news agency Estadão Conteúdo predicted that the index would be around 0.6% in the month.

Even so, the numbers remain above the Central Bank’s target for inflation this year, of 3.5%, with a tolerance margin of 1.5 percentage points more or less. That is, ranging between 2% and 5%.

See below the inflation divided by group, according to the IBGE:

• Clothing: 2.11%
• Transport: 1.34%
• Health and personal care: 1.01%
• Communication: 0.72%
• Household items: 0.66%
• Personal expenses: 0.52%
• Food and drinks: 0.48%
• Education: 0.06%
• Housing: -1.7%

Clothes and tickets go up

The result of the Clothing group was mainly influenced by the increase in the prices of men’s clothing (2.65%), women’s clothing (2.18%) and children’s clothing (2.14%). Footwear and accessories (2.06%) also registered an increase of more than 2% in May. The exception was jewelry, whose prices retreated 0.34%.

In Transport, the major contribution came from air tickets (18.33%), which had already risen in April (9.48%). It was the biggest individual impact on the general IPCA in May, together with pharmaceuticals (2.51%), which are part of the Health and personal care group.

Also in Transport, the IBGE highlights the 12.5% ​​increase in ticket prices in Aracaju, in addition to the 41.51% increase in taxi fares in São Paulo and 14.1% in Fortaleza. There were also readjustments in intercity buses (1.19%) in three capitals:

• Belo Horizonte: increase of up to 17% in tickets since May 16;
• Aracaju: up 12.5% ​​increase since May 15;
• Porto Alegre: up 7.33% since April 14th.

About the IPCA

The IPCA has been calculated by the IBGE since 1980, refers to families with an income of 1 to 40 times the minimum wage, and covers ten metropolitan regions of the country, in addition to Goiânia, Campo Grande, Rio Branco, São Luís, Aracaju and Brasília.

To calculate the monthly index, prices collected between March 31 and April 29, 2022 (reference) were compared with prices in force between February 26 and March 30, 2022 (base).

Source: Uol