Consumer prices of Lima Metropolitan increased 0.29% in February

The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) announced that, in February 2023, the Consumer Price Index of Lima Metropolitan registered an increase of 0.29%, accumulating a variation of 0.52% in the second month of the year; and the last twelve months (March 2022-February 2023) reached 8.65%.

 

According to the technical report Variation Price Indicators of the Economy, the monthly result was mainly influenced by the increase in the price of the consumer divisions: Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (0.60%), Education (0.78%), Restaurants and Hotels (0.53%) and Transportation (0.26%). It should be noted that the monthly increase in the prices of the capital city was attenuated by the reduction in Accommodation, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (-1.03%).

 

To a lesser extent, the prices of the Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics divisions (0.47%), Goods and Miscellaneous Services (0.43%), Recreation and Culture (0.29%), Clothing items and Footwear (0.26%), Furniture, Household Items and Routine Household Maintenance (0.18%) and Health (0.15%) increased. Meanwhile, the Communications division recorded no variation during the month of analysis.

 

The increase in prices of the Foods and Non-alcoholic Beverages division is supported by the higher prices observed in meats (5.0%) due to increased eviscerated chicken (10.8%), cuts such as chicken breast (5.7%), wings (5.5%), leg (5.4%), chicken giblets (5.0%) and Breaded chicken (4.3%) for lower supply; and beef meat, such as steak (1.7%) and stew (1.6%); also, milk, cheese and eggs (1.7%) prices rose due to the increase in chicken eggs (6.0%), Paria cheese (1.1%) and powdered dairy food (1.1%); fruits (0.6%) as a strawberry (15.7%), mango (11.3%), pineapple (7.4%), juice orange (4.5%) and table orange (4.4%), mandarin (4.0%), Island banana (4.1%), Silk banana (3.2%) and Inguiri banana (3.1%); imported apple (2.3%) and Delicia apple (2.0%). 

 

Likewise, upward prices reported the bread and cereals groups (0.6%), due to the rise in purple corn (4.6%), dried short (1.5%) long (1.3%) pasta; cream-filled (1.3%), salty (1.1%), covered (1.1%) cookies and bulk rice (0.6%); coffee, tea and cocoa (0.5%) due to the higher prices of chocolate products (1.1%), instant coffee (0.5%) and ground roast coffee (0.5%). Also, sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and sugar candy (0.3%) due to the increase in the price of personal ice-cream in cream (1.7%) and ice (0.6%); oils and fats (0.3%) such as packaged butter (2.0%); and mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit and legume juices (0.3%) due to the increase in the price of still mineral water (1.0%) and sodas (0.3%).

 

On the other hand, seafood prices fell (-5.1%) such as, Bonito fish (-14.2%), hake (-8.6%), horse mackerel (-6.0%), mackerel (-4,8%) and choros (mussels) (-3.3%); the vegetables, legumes include potatoes and other tubers (-4.1%) as a yellow (-21.1%), Huayro (-20.2%), white (-10.8%), colored (-6.4%) potato, yellow sweet potato (-5.7%), Peruvian yellow pepper (-6.4%), spinach (-6.3%), green onion (-3.8%) and chopped vegetables (-3.1%); also, other food products (-0.2%) such as, coriander (-4.5%), ground condiments: yellow chili (-3.6%), garlic (-2.1%), Peruvian chili pepper (-1.7%) and Peruvian red pepper (-1.3%). 

 

In the Education division, highlights the price increase in preschool and elementary education (1.4%) for the observed increase in non-state tuition expenses: elementary education (16.3%), early education (11.1%), elementary state tuition expense (2.0%) and initial education (1,9%); also, high-school education (1.4%) due to the higher prices of spending on non-state tuition for secondary education (15.9%) and state high school tuition expense (2.2%). Also, higher education prices rose (0.4%) as the cost of tuition in non-state-undergraduate college (7.8%). 

  

The decrease in prices reported in the Accommodation, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels division is based on the lower prices in residential electricity consumption (-4.0%), due to the new tariff specifications as of February 4, 2023; domestic propane gas (-0.9%), residential natural gas consumption (-0.4%) by the tariff specifications in force as of February 1 of this year. On the other hand, municipal arbitral prices rose (4.7%).

 

In the Restaurants and Hotels division, beverage service prices increased in restaurants and similar locations (0.6%) as natural soft drinks (1.4%), smoothed fruit juice (0.6%), beer served (0,5%) and sodas (0.4%); and food service at restaurants and similar establishments (0.5%) for the increase in the price of grilled meat (0.9%), desserts (0.9%), sandwiches (0.8%), hen broth (0.7%), pizzas (0.6%), breakfast in restaurants (0.6%), restaurant menu (0.5%) and Grilled Chicken (0.5%). 

 

The price increase in Transportation responds to the higher prices of domestic airfare (6.7%), fuels for vehicles (2.4%) as liquefied petroleum gas for vehicle (3.0%) and gasohol (2.6%) interprovincial bus fare (1.3%) and bus and microbus fare (0.2%). While, airfare to international destinations (-2.7%) decreased in price. 

 

In the month of February 2023, of the 586 products that make up the family basket, 385 recorded an increase in prices, 103 decreased and 98 showed no variation. The products that reported the greatest increase in prices were strawberry (15.70%) cost of non-state school tuition (15.14%), leek (12.20%), mango (11.32%), beet (10.80%), eviscerated chicken (10.78%), green bean (8.35%), and dry potato (8.13%). Meanwhile, products with declining prices were yellow potato (-21.11%), Huayro potato (-20.19%), Bonito fish (-14.20%), white potatoes (-10.76%), strong avocado (-9.34%), blueberries (-9.07%), white grapes (-8.73%) and hake (-8.63%). 

 

The increase in prices in Lima Metropolitan during the second month of this year was mainly influenced by the higher prices of eviscerated chicken, chicken eggs and menu in restaurants, also the increase in prices in non-state school tuition and gasohol, which together contributed with 0.327 percentage points to the result of the month; attenuated by the decrease in electricity fees and some foods such as yellow and white potatoes, Bonito fish and strong avocado. 

 

In February 2023, the variation in the Consumer Price Index of Lima Metropolitan, without considering food and energy (underlying inflation) increased by 0.27%.

 

During the month of analysis, the National Consumer Price Index reported an increase of 0.43%, mainly explained by the price increase of the divisions: Foods and Non-alcoholic Beverages (0.82%), Restaurants and Hotels (0.70%), Education (0.69%), Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (0.67%), Goods and Miscellaneous Services and Transportation (0.46%), Clothing items and Footwear (0.40%), Recreation and Culture (0.33%), Furniture, Household Items (0.31%) and Health (0.19%). However, downward prices presented Accommodation, Water, Electricity and Gas (-1.09%) while the Communications division, on average, did not present any variation. 

 

In the second month of the year, twenty-five of the twenty-six cities where the Consumer Price Index is calculated recorded price increases. The cities with the highest variations were Puerto Maldonado (2.44%), Pucallpa (1.34%), Tacna (1.19%), Abancay (1.14%) and Cusco (1.09%). 

In February 2023, the National Wholesale Price Index rose by 0.82%, for the price increase reported in the manufactured products (gasohol, industrial oil, Diesel oil, thinner, waterborne paints, chicken meat, cement, salty cookies, power cables, Long pasta noodles and metal containers); agricultural (green pea, tomato, ullucus, carrot, orange, amylaceous corn and coffee beans); and poultry (live birds: chicken and hens, eggs, livestock: sheep and beef); however, fisheries prices fell due to increased supply (Bonito fish, horse mackerel, Cachema fish, hake, Liza and Cabrilla fish). Similarly, manufactured imported goods reported price increases (building rods, soybean cakes, electric generator, formula milk,   steel plates, mobile phone, truck tires, Diesel oil, automobiles, and front loaders and dozers); while imported hard yellow corn decreased in price.

  

In the month of analysis, the Metropolitan Lima Machinery and Equipment Price Index increased by 0.61%, influenced by the reported increase in capital goods of national origin, such as machinery and equipment for agriculture: drinking fountains and peaks; machinery and equipment for the industry: desks, electrical transformers and shelves; and machinery and equipment for transport: car bodies, moto-taxi and springs for automotive vehicles. Also, imported capital goods prices rose, of which, the highest rate was observed in machinery and equipment for agriculture: road tractors, shovels and pickaxes; followed by machinery and equipment for transport: road tractor for semi-trailer and vehicles for transport of goods; machinery and equipment for the industry: meat preparation machines, dump trucks, Loader blades and laundry machines and other machinery and equipment: basic medical instruments, medical electrical appliances and single-phase electrical counters.

 

Finally, the INEI reported that the Construction Materials Price Index in Lima Metropolitan increased by 0.40%, due to the increase in prices registered by the binders (Portland cement type I and type V); electrical supplies (power cables, wires and cables for telephone installations and wires and cables for fixed installations); concrete structures (fiber wavy sheets, Fiber Flat Sheets and Drywall Flat Sheets); metal (hot rolled steel tubes, Building nails and rods); and aggregates. On the other hand, majolica tiles and mosaics (floor and wall coatings); bricks (roof, bucket, pastry and King Kong); woods (chipboards, Tornillo and Oak wood); flat glass; and plastic pipes and fixtures dropped in price.