The Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese) released a survey on Tuesday (6) on the cost of the basic food basket for the month of July. In 17 capitals, the value of the set of basic foods consumed by families fell. 
Compared to June, the most significant drops were seen in Rio de Janeiro (-6.97%), Aracaju (-6.71%), Belo Horizonte (-6.39%), Brasília (-6.04%), Recife (-5.91%) and Salvador (-5.46%). São Paulo was the capital where the basic food basket cost the most, R$809.77, a drop of 2.75% compared to June, followed by Florianópolis, where the basic food basket cost R$782.73, a drop of 4.08% compared to June, and Porto Alegre, R$769.96, a drop of 4.34%, and Rio de Janeiro, R$757.64.
As the composition of the basic food basket is different in cities in the North and Northeast regions, the lowest values of the basic food basket were found in Aracaju (R$524.28), Recife (R$548.43) and João Pessoa (R$572.38).
According to Dieese, when comparing the basket values between July 2023 and July 2024, the cost of basic foods rose in 11 cities. The highlight was Goiânia, which rose 5.82%, followed by Campo Grande (MS), 5.54% and São Paulo (SP), 5.71%.
Among the six cities that saw a drop in prices were Recife (-7.47%) and Natal (-6.28%). From January to July this year, 15 cities saw an increase in average prices – Belo Horizonte with an increase of 0.06% and Fortaleza, with 7.48%. By this criterion, of average prices, the reductions occurred in Brasília (-0.63%) and Vitória (-0.06%).
Considering the constitutional provision that establishes that the minimum wage must be sufficient to cover the expenses of a worker and his/her family, with food, housing, health, education, clothing, hygiene, transportation, leisure and social security, Dieese estimated that the necessary value of the minimum wage should be R$6,802.88, or 4.82 times the current value of R$1,412.00. In June of this year, the necessary value was R$6,995.44 and corresponded to 4.95 times the minimum wage.
The survey showed that in July the average time needed for workers to buy the basic food basket was 105 hours and 8 minutes, shorter than in June, when this exchange rate was 109 hours and 53 minutes. The average journey in July 2023 to buy the basic food basket was 111 hours and 8 minutes.
Dieese compared the cost of the basic food basket with the net minimum wage, after the 7.5% Social Security discount, and found that workers spent, on average, 51.66% of their income on buying food. In June, workers spent 54% of their net salary.
In light of the climate disaster that occurred in Rio Grande do Sul in May, which affected countless rice producers, the price of the product and the government’s announcement that it would import the product, the price of rice fell in July in 13 capitals, ranging from -0.37% in Recife to 3.9% in Belo Horizonte. The price of beans also fell in 13 capitals, with drops between 0.66% and 3.04%. French bread, on the other hand, increased in 12 capitals, with increases of 2.03% in Florianópolis and 2.44% in João Pessoa.
