Inflation preview
Food and personal expenses put pressure and IPCA-15 goes to 0.44% in March (2)
March 26, 2026 09h00 AM | Last Updated: March 26, 2026 01h21 PM
The inflation preview was 0.44% in March, 0.40 percentage points (pp) lower than February, when it changed by 0.84%. The result was mainly influenced by the Food and Beverages group, with an increase of 0.88% and an impact of 0.19 pp on the overall index, and Personal Expenses, which rose 0.82% and exerted an influence of 0.09 pp. The Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15) was released today (26) by the IBGE.
The cumulative figure for 12 months was 3.90%, while the IPCA-E, which is the IPCA-15 accumulated quarterly, was 1.49% for the period from January to March. In March 2025, the IPCA-15 had registered an increase of 0.64%.
All nine product and service groups surveyed registered positive change in March, with the Food and Beverages group standing out with the largest change (0.88%) and impact (0.19 pp), followed by Personal Expenses (0.82% and 0.09 pp). The other changes ranged from 0.03% for Communication to 0.47% for Apparel.
Within the Food and Beverages group (0.88%), food consumed at home accelerated from 0.09% in February to 1.10% in March. Contributing to this result were the increases in açaí (29.95%), carioca beans (19.69%), chicken eggs (7.54%), long-life milk (4.46%), and meats (1.45%). On the downside, ground coffee (-1.76%) and fruits (-1.31%) stand out.
Food consumed away from home decreased from 0.46% in February to 0.35% in March. Meals (0.31%) showed a smaller change than the previous month (0.62%), while snacks increased from 0.28% to 0.50% during the same period.
In addition to Food and Beverages, the Personal Expenses group (0.82% and 0.09 percentage points) also exerted a strong influence on the overall index, with particular emphasis on the subitems banking services (2.12%) and domestic help (0.59%).
In the Health and Personal Care group (0.36% and 0.05 percentage points), the highlights were health insurance and personal hygiene items, which rose 0.49% and 0.38%, respectively.
The Housing group accelerated from 0.06% in February to 0.24% in March, influenced by the result for residential electricity (0.29%), which includes average increases of 15.10% and 14.66% in concessionaires in Rio de Janeiro (1.82%).
The water and sewage rate (0.44%) also reflected tariff increases: 6.56% in Belo Horizonte (2.20%) and 6.21% in one of the concessionaires in Porto Alegre (2.13%). In the piped gas subitem (-0.99%), there was a reduction of 4.01% in tariffs in Curitiba (-2.39%) and 4.44% in Rio de Janeiro (-2.30%).
In the Transportation group (0.21%), the highlight was airfares (5.94%), the subitem with the greatest individual impact on the month's result (0.05 pp). The result for intercity buses (1.29%) includes the increases of 11.69% to 12.61% in Rio de Janeiro (12.59%) and 7.27% in Curitiba (1.70%).
The 0.56% increase in taxi fares was due to increases of 4.26% in Porto Alegre (3.50%), 18.70% in Fortaleza (2.22%), and 4.53% in Salvador (1.21%). The result for the urban bus subitem (-0.59%), which includes free/reduced fares on Sundays and holidays in some areas, incorporated the increases of 6.00% in Porto Alegre (5.00%), 4.46% in Recife (2.74%), and 20.00% in Fortaleza (2.31%).
Fuel prices decreased by 0.03%, with reductions in the prices of vehicular gas (-2.27%), ethanol (-0.61%), and gasoline (-0.08%), while diesel oil showed a positive change of 3.77%.
Ten areas advanced, with the highest rate recorded in Recife
Regionally, ten of the eleven areas experienced increases in March. The largest change was recorded in Recife (0.82%), due to increases in tomato prices (46.27%) and gasoline (1.37%). The lowest result occurred in Curitiba (-0.06%), which showed a decrease in the prices of vehicle registration and licensing (-4.83%), fruits (-3.78%), and gasoline (-0.84%).
More about the survey
The methodology used to calculate the IPCA-15 is the same as for the IPCA, the difference being the period of price collection and the geographic scope. Prices were collected from February 13th to March 17th, 2026 (reference period) and compared with those in effect from January 15th to February 12th, 2026 (base period).
The indicator refers to families with incomes of 1 to 40 minimum wages and covers the Metropolitan Areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador, and Curitiba, as well as Brasília and the municipality of Goiânia. See the complete results on Sidra. The next release of the IPCA-15, referring to April, will be on the 28th of next month, and the IPCA-E, referring to the second quarter of 2026, will be on June 25th.
Learn more about the Extended National Consumer Price Index 15:
