According to data released by the Brazilian National Geographic and Statistics Agency (IBGE) on the 12th local time, Brazil’s inflation rate in 2020 was 4.52%, which was higher than the median government control target of 4% that year, marking the highest in 4 years.
Data showed that in 2020, the price of food and beverages in Brazil rose by 14.09%, the largest increase since 2002, promoting a general increase in prices of other commodities. Among them, the price of rice rose by 76.01%, the price of tomatoes by 52.76%, the price of fruits by 25.4%, and the price of meat by 17.97%.
Affected by the 9.14% increase in electricity bills, Brazil’s housing costs rose by 5.25%. Due to the appreciation of the US dollar and the rise in international commodity prices, the price of household goods in Brazil rose by 6%.
In addition, health and personal care, personal expenditures, communications, transportation, education and other consumption have also increased to varying degrees.
The data also showed that in December 2020, Brazil’s inflation rate was 1.35%, higher than 0.89% in November 2020 and 1.15% in December 2019, which was a new high for the same period since 2002.
From the perspective of major cities, Camp Grande had the highest inflation rate in 2020, reaching 6.85%. Next is Rio Blanco, with an inflation rate of 6.12%. The third is Fortaleza, with an rate of 5.74%. The inflation rates of Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, the second largest city, Rio de Janeiro, and the capital Brasilia were 4.4%, 4.09% and 3.4%, respectively.
According to the latest forecasts from the Brazilian financial market, Brazil’s inflation expectations in 2021 and 2022 are 3.34% and 3.5%, respectively, while Brazil’s benchmark interest rates in these two years are expected to be 3.25% and 4.75%, both higher than the current 2% level.
