Record in Ecuador: December left the most expensive basic basket in history

2022 closed in Ecuador with the most expensive basic basket in the country’s history since records exist. Thus, the basic family basket stood at US$763.44 in December, US$2.3 more than in November.

The basket is a set of 75 essential goods and services to satisfy the basic needs of the typical household made up of 4 members with 1.6 income recipients who earn the unified basic remuneration.

This indicator makes it possible to know the wear and tear of the purchasing power of wages due to inflationary impacts, in terms of the composition of effective consumption expressed as monetary spending.

In addition, they are compared with the minimum monthly income of the typical household (US$793.33), calculated with nominal salaries and monthly bonuses without reserve funds.

The rental payment for housing and health care are the two items that have the most weight in the basket, with US$159.59 and US$120.23, respectively.

These items follow:

• Cereals and derivatives: US$52.61
• Meat and preparations: US$40.27
• Milk, Dairy Products and Eggs: US$39.78
• Transport: US$37.07
• Tobacco: US$34.21
• Recess and reading material: US$29.14
• Education: US$24.92

Despite the fact that 103.91% of the family basket is covered by family income (US$793.33), the bottom line is that only 33% of the population that has adequate employment can cover it, while for the underemployed or informal employees it is much more complicated.

In addition, while the basket rises, salaries remain fixed, especially the minimum wage, which in 2022 was US$425 and this year rose to US$450.

The family basket as of December 2022 was more expensive in the Sierra region, especially in the city of Cuenca, where it reached US$779.14. While on the Coast the price was US$747.75, Santo Domingo being the city with the cheapest basket: US$705.47.

INFLATION ROSE LITTLE IN DECEMBER

Inflation also registered a slight increase in December, settling at 3.74% interannual, 0.16% monthly and 3.74% accumulated.

“In December 2022, the Consumer Price Index stood at 110.23. With this, monthly inflation was 0.16%, compared to the previous month, which was -0.01%, while in December 2021 it stood at 0.07%,” says the report from the National Institute of Statistics. and Censuses (INEC) presented this Friday.

With these data it is evident that the annual inflation of December 2022 was the highest in the months of December since 2013.

WHAT AFFECTED THE MOST

Likewise, the three divisions that most affected monthly inflation in December 2022 were the following: Food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.0490%); Miscellaneous goods and services (0.0415%); and, Health (0.0247%).

And the products with the highest incidence were:

FOODS

• Orange
• Green banana
• Sweet peas
• Banana
• Yogurt
• Rice

The Food and non-alcoholic beverages division is made up of 115 products and represents 22.45% of the weighting of the CPI basket.

MISCELLANEOUS GOODS AND SERVICES

• Deodorant
• Photocopies
• Skin creams
• Sunscreen
• Shampoo

The Miscellaneous goods and services division is made up of 36 products and represents 9.86% of the weighting of the CPI basket.

HEALTH

• Mineral supplements, vitamins and anti-anemic preparations
• Cardiovascular system
• Analgesics and antipyretics
• Hospitalization expenses

The Health division contains 26 products and represents 7.34% of the weighting of the CPI basket.

With information from Bloomberg