MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's inflation for 2021 reaches 10.06%

Electricity, fuel and coffee were among the items which impacted the most in the final outcome

Brazil's inflation for the year 2021 has reached 10.06%, which was the country's highest in the past six years, driven mainly by the rise in fuel prices and by the energy crisis, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) announced Tuesday.

It was the highest index since 2015's 10.67%. The results for 2021 were mainly impacted by transport (+ 21.03%), followed by housing (+ 13.05%) and food and beverages (+ 7.94%).

The increase in the price of transport was due to a 49.02% rise in the price of fuel during 2021, with gasoline raising 47.49% and ethanol 62.23%.

Affecting the price of housing was electricity, which grew 21.21% in 2021, due to the energy crisis stemming from the downspouts while food and beverages were mostly impacted by the rise in the price of ground coffee (+ 50.24%). Together, the three groups accounted for about 79% of inflation in 2021, according to IBGE.

After four consecutive months with the year-on-year rate in double digits, the country's inflation in 2021 was well above the goal that the Central Bank had set for last year (3.75%), with a tolerance margin of 1.5 percentage points.

The National Expanded Consumer Price Index (INPCA) for 2020 had increased 4.52%.