Brazil’s inflation stands at 0.24%, propelled by airline ticket prices
Brazil's official inflation for October settled at 0.24 percent, primarily influenced by a spike in airline ticket prices.
The National Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA) was released on Friday (Nov. 10) by the government´s statistic agency IBGE. The result was lower than the 0.26 percent recorded in September. The year-to-date accumulated inflation stands at 3.75 percent, and over the last 12 months, at 4.82 percent.
A price increase was observed in eight out of the nine groups of products and services measured by the IBGE. The most significant pressures on prices were observed in the transportation and food and beverage sectors.
Within the transportation category, airline tickets, which had already increased by 13.47 percent in September, surged by 23.70 percent. "This rise may be related to factors such as the increase in aviation kerosene prices and the approaching year-end vacations," explained the survey's manager, André Almeida.
Food
The food and beverages group - the one that weighs most heavily on families' budgets - showed an increase after four straight months of deflation, i.e. a drop in prices. Food eaten away from home was 0.42 percent more expensive and food eaten at home rose 0.27 percent.
The communication category was the only one to register deflation, down 0.19 percent. The reason for this was the series of falls in the prices of telephone handsets and landline plans.
Inflation target
The reported result places the 12-month accumulated IPCA above the inflation target set by the Central Bank, which is 3.25 percent, with a tolerance of 1.5 percentage points up or down. The IPCA gauges inflation for families with an income ranging from one to 40 minimum wages. Since May 1, the monthly minimum wage for 2023 has been BRL 1,320.00.
