Inflation in Colombia continues its course to approach calm levels. According to the most recent report from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane), in October the monthly variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was -0.13%.
For its part, the year-to-date variation reached 4.44% and the annual variation reached 5.41%, respectively. This last data, specifically, is in line with the market and Government forecasts that point to the CPI closing the year above 5%.
Since last year, inflation has been showing a downward trend. To better measure its decline, by October 2023, the annual figure reached 10.48%, while in the tenth month of 2024 it already reached 5.41%.
The statistical entity also highlighted that the last time there was a decrease in the monthly figure was June 2021, when it registered a variation of -0.05%.
According to the report, in the annual behavior the category that reported the greatest variation was education, with 10.65%. Below are the items of Restaurants and Hotels, whose data was adjusted by 8.93%; Accommodation, water, electricity and gas, with 8.07%; Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with 5.93%; Health, with 5.86%, and Transportation, with 5.62%.
As for the expenditure division that had the most weight in the data, that position goes to Accommodation, with an annual contribution of 2.45 percentage points (pp).; followed by Restaurants and Hotels, with a contribution of 0.95 pp; Transport, with 0.75 pp, Education, with 0.41 pp and Food, with 0.50 pp
How it moved in the month
As explained by the director of the entity, Piedad Urdinola, the monthly behavior of the indicator was mainly explained by the decrease that has been evident in the division of food and non-alcoholic beverages. During the analysis period, this item reported a variation of -0.76% and contributed negatively to the monthly data with 0.14 percentage points (pp).
Urdinola also highlighted that some of the types of food that show a decrease in inflation include meats, fresh fruits and legumes. Added to this are other products, whose annual trend has impacted the monthly data, such as potatoes, tomatoes and onions.
The downward trend that was evident in October also responds to the falls in the categories of Recreation and Culture (-0.17%), Information and Communication (-0.16%), Goods and services for the home (-0 .05%), Accommodation, water, electricity and gas (-0.04%) and Transportation (-0.01).
Regarding contributions, in the tenth month of the year many of these categories were located at 0, so no significant contribution was evident. In this group are the areas of Accommodation; Goods and Services; Transport; Education and Health.
News in development…
