The Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), which measures official inflation in the country, registered deflation (price drop) of 0.02% in August of this year. This was the first time that the indicator had deflation since June 2023 (-0.08%). The data was released this Tuesday (10) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The IPCA had recorded inflation rates of 0.38% in July of this year and 0.23% in August of last year. With this result, the IPCA has accumulated a rate of 2.85% for the year. In 12 months, the accumulated rate is 4.24%, below the target ceiling established by the National Monetary Council (CMN), which is 4.5%.
The fall in prices in August was mainly driven by food, which saw deflation of 0.44%, and by the housing expenditure group, which fell by 0.51%.
The food and beverage group had already seen a 1% price drop in July. In August, deflation was driven by food at home, thanks to the price drop in items such as potatoes (-19.04%), tomatoes (-16.89%) and onions (-16.85%).
Housing deflation was influenced by the fall in electricity prices (-2.77%).
Transport did not have price changes in the month. On the other hand, six groups of expenses showed inflation: household goods (0.74%), clothing (0.39%), health and personal care (0.25%), personal expenses (0.25%), education (0.73%) and communication (0.10%).
