The Consumer Price Index for January registered an increase of 3.9% driven by items such as communication, restaurants and hotels and food and non-alcoholic beverages, while core inflation fell and stood at 3.3%, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec).
Communications led inflation for the month with a 7.5% monthly rise (1.8% in December) due to increases in telephone and internet services.
Prices were also driven by Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased 4.9% monthly in January (4.3% in December), with increases in Vegetables and Fruits, but with stability in Meats and derivatives.
Restaurants and hotels also had weight in the month, which increased 5.7% monthly (compared to 5.9% in December) due to increases in Hotel services due to summer vacations, while recreation and culture remain high due to seasonal issues (4 .2% compared to 4.0% December).
What’s more, the increase in Health stood out (4.1% monthly vs. 0.5% December) due to authorized increases in prepaid.
For its part, the Core CPI registered a monthly rise of 3.3%, while year-on-year inflation fell for the fourth consecutive month, reaching 50.7% in January compared to 50.9% in December 2021.
After releasing the figures for January, the Ministry of Economy indicated that this behavior of prices responded mainly to the stability of Meats and derivatives after the increases in December, together with the deceleration of inflation in other items.
stood outto the lower increase in clothing and footwear, which increased 2.4% monthly (4.8% in December) after registering increases of more than 4% during the last 4 months.
Inflation rates also fell with respect to December in transportation (2.8% monthly compared to 4.9% in December) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (1.8% monthly compared to 5.4% in December). Finally, the stability of education stands out (0.8% compared to 1.0% in December)
Seasonal Prices increased 9.0% monthly (3.7% December) with significant increases in vegetables, fruits and hotel services due to summer vacations, while Regulated Prices increased 2.8% monthly (1.7% December) driven by due to rises in Prepaid and Telephone and Internet Services at the national level, and increases in Electricity, Water and Transportation in the interior of the country.
