Airfares Decrease 15.66 Percent and Relieve the National Consumer Price Index

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Airfares weighed less on families’ pockets in August, with a 15.66 percent reduction in rates, according to data from the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), as reported by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Airfares had been up sharply in the two previous months: 18.90 percent in June and 18.63 percent in July.

“It is normal to see a decrease in airfares in August. You have a higher base because of the July vacation, so there’s this drop in August,” explained Pedro Kislanov da Costa, manager of the National System of Price Indicators of the IBGE.

The Transport category emerged from a reduction of 0.17 percent in July to a drop of 0.39 percent in August. The group’s contribution to inflation went from a -0.03 percentage point to a -0.07 percentage point in the period.

Fuel prices rose slightly by 0.01 percent in August. Gasoline was 0.45 percent cheaper, while diesel oil fell 0.76 percent. Ethanol rose 2.30 percent in August.

Still, in Transportation, the inter-municipal bus increased 0.38 percent, driven by the average readjustment of 4.48 percent in long-distance inter-municipal tickets in Porto Alegre as of August 1st.