The consumer price index (CPI) registered in February a 6.6% increase compared to the previous month, driven by the Food and non-alcoholic beverages category, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) reported on Tuesday.
This way, retail inflation accumulated a rise of 13.1% in the first two months and 102.5% in the last 12 months.
The division with the highest increase in the month was Food and non-alcoholic beverages (9.8%), mainly due to the incidence of the increase in meat and derivatives and milk, dairy products and eggs.
The next divisions with the highest increases were Communication (7.8%), affected by the rise in telephone and internet services, and Restaurants and hotels (7.5%).
The increase in quotas for the prepaidwhich had an impact on the Health category (5.3%); cigarettes, in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (5.2%); the fuels, within Transportation (4.9%); and the electricity and water services in some regions, in Housing, water, electricity and other fuels (4.8%).
Within the Food and non-alcoholic beverages division, which had the greatest impact in all regions, the main highlight was the rise of meats and derivatives.
In turn, although to a lesser extent, the rises in Milk, dairy products and eggs stood out; and in Fruits, due to seasonal reasons and in the midst of the severe drought that impacts production.
The two divisions of The lowest variation in February were Clothing and footwear (3.9%) and Education (3.2%).
At the category level, the Core CPI led the increase (7.7%), followed by Regulated (5.1%), while Seasonal registered an increase of 3.3%.
