The IPCA accelerated to 1.15% in December 2019, the highest since June 2018 (1.26%), driven mainly by the rise in meat (beef and pork), fuel and gambling prices, according to data from the IBGE.
In the last month of 2019, meat prices advanced 18.06% compared to November. It was the largest individual impact on the IPCA of the period, of 0.52 percentage points.
The move was expected by analysts. Meat prices rose reflecting higher demand from China. The country has been demanding more protein from the world after African swine fever decimated part of its breeding stock throughout the year.
Fuels also had an impact on December inflation, rising 3.57%. With adjustments in Petrobras refineries, gasoline was 3.36% more expensive in the month. The price of ethanol also advanced by 5.50%. The Transportation group - which includes fuel - increased by 1.54% in December. Air tickets also contributed to the high of the group in the last month of 2019, with an increase of 15.62%.
Another highlight of December was the Personal Expenses group (+ 0.92%), still influenced by the increase in gambling (12.88%), effect of the betting price adjustment, effective since November 10th. It is the non-food item that had the highest price increase, comparing the years 2018 and 2019. The accumulated variation between the years was 40.3%.
Source: GMB / Valor Econômico
