Consumption in Brazilian homes, measured by the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (Abras), ended the month of July with a high of 7.75% compared to June. In the year, consumption in homes accumulates a high of 2.57%.
In comparison with July 2021, the indicator increased by 8.02%. The result includes store formats: cash and carry, conventional supermarket, neighborhood store, hypermarket, mini-market and e-commerce. All indicators are deflated by the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), measured by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
According to Abras, in July, in addition to the slowdown in food prices, the month had five weekends, which contributed to a greater number of trips to the point of sale. “Since July, we have been monitoring the first signs of a retraction in the prices of some items that had significant increases resulting from climatic, seasonal and commodity factors, which have been putting pressure on the food basket since the beginning of the year. If this lower inflationary pressure is maintained, consumption tends to increase in this second half of the year in view of the growth in employment and resources injected into the economy,” said Abras vice-president Marcio Milan.
According to data from Abras, the value of the basket of 35 consumer products (food, beverages, meat, cleaning products, hygiene and beauty items) reached the lowest level of the year, with a high of 0.63%. There was a drop in prices for basic products such as soy oil, beans, rice, sugar and in items in the fruit and vegetable basket, including potatoes, tomatoes, onions. In July, the national basket made up of 35 products of wide consumption such as food, beverages, meat, cleaning products, hygiene and beauty items increased from R$ 773.44 to R$ 778.32. In the year, the high is 11.10%.
Soybean oil fell for the second month in a row, falling 2.41% compared to June. The price of beans was 1.69% lower for the first time, after six months of high. The indicator also showed the third drop in the price of sugar, which in July retracted 0.60%. Rice had the lowest price variation, 0.11%, and accumulated a 5.77% drop in 12 months.
The biggest drops in prices came from fruit and vegetables that impacted the basket since the beginning of the year due to weather problems, lower supply in producing regions and high freight costs. Among these products are tomatoes (-23.68%), potatoes (-16.62%) and onions (-5.55%).
The data also show that the price of proteins varied less than 1% in July. The highlights were hind meat (-0.83%), egg (-0.42%), ham (-0.43%), frozen chicken (0.69%). Of the beef cuts analyzed by Abrasmercado, the highest increase was the forequarter (1.14%) after two consecutive months of retraction.
In the opposite direction, the national basket had four of the five biggest increases pulled by milk and derivatives. Long-life milk was 25.46% more expensive and derivatives about 5%. Among them are powdered milk (+5.36%), mozzarella cheese (+5.28%) and soft cheese (+5.18%). Another item with a significant increase was salt (3.96%). Shipping and packaging costs have made the product more expensive, which has accumulated an increase of 11.75% in the year.
In the hygiene and beauty category, the increases were driven by soap (1.97%), shampoo (1.10%), toilet paper (1.01%), toothpaste (0.99%). In the cleaning basket, the highest increase was registered in washing powder (2.14%), liquid dishwashing detergent (1.66%), disinfectant (1.20%) and bleach (0.22%).
The Northeast Region presented a negative variation in the prices of the basket, of 0.14%, and had the cheapest basket among the five regions. In July, the average value was R$ 690.64. In the North Region, the drop was 0.07%, with average basket prices at R$ 833.08. In the South Region, the variation in the price of the basket was +0.15%, the lowest of the year. In July, the average price of the basket was R$ 880.05 and the region has the most expensive basket in the country. The Midwest and Southeast regions had the greatest variations: 1.85% and 1.86%, with baskets costing R$716.09 and R$769.86.
