IPEA: inflation slows down in November for all income brackets

Inflation decelerated for all income groups in November. The finding is part of the analysis of the Inflation Indicator by Income Range, released today (15) by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea). In the lower-income segment, the rate rose from 1.35% in October to 0.65% in November. As for middle and upper-middle income families, the rate of decline was lower and went from 1.1% to 1.08%.

According to IPEA, even though there was a slowdown in November, the inflation accumulated in the 12 months for families that earn less than R$ 1,808.79 reached 11%, which means a higher percentage than that of families that earn more than R$ 17,764.49, which reached 9.7% in accumulated inflation in 12 months.

The greatest inflationary pressures in the year to date came from lower-middle income families, who have monthly incomes ranging from R$2,702.88 to R$4,506.47; and those with average income with income between R$ 4,506.47 and R$ 8,956.26. For the lower-middle income bracket, the accumulated variations were 9.6% and for the middle-income bracket they were 9.5%.

influences

Transport and housing were the groups that most contributed to the high inflation of families of all income groups. The pressure on transport can be explained by increases in gasoline (7.4%), ethanol (10.5%), interstate bus fares (1.6%) and transport by application (6.8%), in addition to the variation in the prices of new (2.4%) and used (2.4%) cars. In housing, there were increases in electricity (1.2%), bottled gas (2.1%) and piped gas (2%), in addition to rents (0.84%) and condominiums (0.95 %).

For families with higher incomes, part of the inflationary impact of transport was mitigated by the decrease of 6.1% in airline tickets and 1.8% in car rental in the transport segment. However, the evolution of personal and recreation services, such as lodging (2.6%) and package tours (2.3%), contributed to inflation in November.

The food and beverage segment contributed to alleviating inflation for lower-income families. There were significant drops in the prices of important items in the consumer basket, such as cereals (-3.2%), meats (-1.4%) and milk and dairy products (-1.5%). Another factor that had an impact and helped to reduce inflationary pressure in all income groups was the 3% deflation of toiletries.

Inflation

For the two lowest-income groups, November inflation was below that registered in the same month of 2020. The reason is the improvement in the performance of food prices in 2021. Last year there were significant increases in cereals (4.9%) , tubers (16.2%), meat (6.5%) and oils and fats (6.5%). On the other hand, the worsening of current inflation for higher-income families comes from the more modest readjustments, in 2020, of gasoline (1.6%), diesel oil (1.6%) and new cars (1, 1%), in addition to the drop in computer products (-1%) and spending on accommodation (-0.4%), compared to this year.

Twelve months

In the evaluation of IPEA, the accumulated figures for the last 12 months “already reveal a slight deceleration in inflation for the lower income groups”. However, in the higher income segments they continue on an upward trajectory.

“While the readjustments in electricity (31.9%) and bottled gas (38.9%), together with the rise in food at home (9.7%), explain the behavior of inflation in 12 months for the classes of lower income, increases in fuel (52.8%), air tickets (36.6%) and recreation services (8.6%) contributed strongly to the inflationary pressure in the higher income groups", he informed the Ipea.