Brazil's official inflation in 2024 hits 4.83%, exceeding target limit
With a December result of 0.52 percent, the country's official inflation ended 2024 at 4.83 percent, exceeding the government's target limit.
The government's inflation target for 2024 was set at 3 percent, with a tolerance margin of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. This means the 2024 National Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA) exceeded the target by 0.33 percentage points. The result marks the highest inflation since 2022, when it reached 5.79 percent.
The data, released on Friday (Jan. 10) in Rio de Janeiro by the government´s statistics agency IBGE, also reveal that food and beverages had the greatest impact on Brazilians' expenses throughout 2024. Prices in this category rose by 7.62 percent, contributing 1.63 percentage points to the overall IPCA.
Impact of weather conditions
According to the survey's manager, Fernando Gonçalves, the increase in food prices is attributed to the “impact of adverse weather conditions, which occurred at various times throughout the year and across different regions of the country.”
The next largest pressures came from the health and personal care (6.09%, contributing 0.81 percentage points) and transportation (3.3%, contributing 0.69 percentage points) categories. Together, these three groups accounted for approximately 65 percent of the inflation in 2024.
IBGE tracks the price behavior of 377 products and services. Among them, gasoline had the most significant impact on the cost of living, with a 9.71 percent increase, contributing 0.48 percentage points. It was followed by health insurance, which rose by 7.87 percent, accounting for 0.31 percentage points, and eating out, which became 5.7 percent more expensive, contributing 0.2 percentage points.
