IPCA
Transportation and food drive March's IPCA to 0.88%
April 10, 2026 09h00 AM | Last Updated: April 13, 2026 04h42 PM
In March, the Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) hit 0.88%, surpassing the index of February (0.70%) by 0.18 percentage points (p.p.). The increase was driven by Transportation and Food and beverages which, together, accounted for 76% of March's IPCA.
In Transportation, Gasoline (4.59%) recorded the main increase, with an impact of 0.23 percentage points on the month's inflation. Other increases were those of Airfares (6.08%) and Diesel fuel (13.90%), despite the lower impact, due to the smaller contributions of these subitems to the general index. As for food and beverages, Long life milk (11.74%) and Tomato (20.31%) accounted for the higher price rises, with impacts of 0.07 and 0.05 percentage points on the month's IPCA. Together, these five subitems accounted for 0.43 percentage points of March's IPCA (0.88%).
The manager of IPCA, Fernando Gonçalves, observes that “in some subitems, especially in the case of fuels, we feel the effect of uncertainties in the international scenario.”
Over the year, the IPCA had a cumulative increase of 1.92% and, in the last 12 months, of 4.14%, above the 3.81% observed in the immediately previous 12 months. In March last year, the IPCA was 0.56%.
All the IPCA groups recorded a rise in prices
The nine groups of IPCA products and services recorded a rise in prices in March. The leader was Transportation, with an increase of 1.64% and 0.34 p.p. of impact, followed by Food and beverages (1.56%, with an impact of 0.33 p.p. on the monthly index). Together, both groups account for 76% of March's IPCA. The rise of other groups ranged between 0.02%, for Education and 0.65%, for Personal expenses.
According to Fernando Gonçalves, “considering food, mainly food at home, acceleration of prices was more pronounced, with an increase of 1.94%, the biggest since April 2022 (2.59%), combining the effects of reduction of some products with increases in freight, as a resul of more expensive fuels.”
Salvador, São Luís and Belém record biggest IPCA increases in March
Among the 16 locations where IBGE collects prices for the IPCA calculation, the biggest change occurred in Salvador (1.47%), influenced by the increase in gasoline (17.37%) and meat (3.56%). The smallest change occurred in Rio Branco (0.37%), due to the decrease in residential electricity (-3.28%) and fruits (-3.72%).
In both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, respectively the metropolitan areas with the highest and third highest weight in the IPCA, the March index was 0.78%, remaining below the national average (0.88%). In Belo Horizonte, the metropolitan area with the second highest weight, the March IPCA rose to 0.93%.
Em março, INPC sobe para 0,91%
The National Consumer Price Index (INPC) reached 0.91% in March, 0.35 percentage points higher than February's result (0.56%). Over the year, INPC has had a cumulative increase of 1.87%, and over the last 12 months, of 3.77%, above the cumulative 3.36% of the immediately previous 12 months. In March 2025, the INPC reached 0.51%.
Food products in the INPC accelerated from February (0.26%) to March (1.65%). The change in non-food products, however, went from 0.66% in February to 0.67% in March. Fernando observes that "the greater contribution from food is due to the group's greater weight in the INPC."
The biggest INPC change occurred in Salvador (1.52%), driven by gasoline (17.37%) and tomatoes (49.25%). The smallest change occurred in Rio Branco (0.33%), with a decrease in residential electricity (-3.28%) and soybean oil (-6.46%).
More about the survey
The IPCA covers families with incomes from 1 to 40 minimum wages, while the INPC covers families with incomes from 1 to 5 minimum wages, residing in the Metropolitan Areas of Belém, Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Vitória, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, as well as the Federal District and the municipalities of Goiânia, Campo Grande, Rio Branco, São Luís and Aracaju. You can access IPCA data on Sidra. The next IPCA result, relative to April, will be released on May 12th.
Saiba mais sobre o Índice Nacional de Preços ao Consumidor Amplo – IPCA:
O que é o IPCA?
Série Histórica
Tabelas
Publicações
Saiba mais sobre o Índice Nacional de Preços ao Consumidor – INPC:
O que é o INPC?
Série Histórica
Tabelas
Publicações
