Hear
The inflation in the city of Buenos Aires It deepened a sharp decline in May and accelerated its downward trend. Driven by a nominal decline in the health category, a slowdown in clothing (2.2%) and the postponement of some adjustments in utility rates, The Buenos Aires CPI reached 4.4% last month.
The data records a drop of 5.4 percentage points compared to the increase in the cost of living in Aprilthat had closed with an inflation of 9.8%, and anticipates a downward trend for the national data, which Indec will publish next Thursday, April 13.
In this way, inflation in the city of Buenos Aires accumulates 80.2% in the first months of the year and 280% in its interannual evolution.
A key fact in the inflation report of the General Directorate of Statistics and Censuses (Dgeyc) of Buenos Aires is the slight slowdown in the food sector. This category, the most relevant within the consumption basket that measures inflation, had risen 5.1% in April and now became 4.8% more expensive, that is, still above the average.
It is a tendency to brake on the slowdown that the estimates and measurements of private consulting companies already warn aboutwhat do they estimate for May a national inflation of between 4.5% and 6%. For example, the consultant LCG warned that, in its weekly food measurement, the latest increases were 1.8% and 1.3%.
According to the official report, the food increase explained 0.93 percentage points of the 4.4% registered in the month. “Within the division, the main impulses came from Vegetables, tubers and legumes (24.2%), Milk, dairy products and eggs (4.5%), Bread and cereals (3.5%) and Meats and derivatives. (2.5%)”, explains the official report.
So far this year, the food and beverage category has accumulated 75.8% in 2024 and 308.8% year-on-year. In other words, the average price of food and drink in Capital has more than quadrupled in the last 12 months.
Another relevant number has to do with the evolution of core inflation, which slowed down compared to April, but was above average prices. According to the official report, the measurement that excludes the behavior of regulated (2.2%) and seasonal (3.9%) was 5.1%. In April, it had been 7.4%. In year-on-year terms, it is 278.9%.
The second segment that had the most weight within the May inflation index It was housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuelswhich rose 4.8% in the month.
The category explained 0.86 percentage points of the average inflation for the month in April, and has accumulated 89.1% so far in 2024 (9 points more than the average).
According to the official report, the main impact was “the increases in the values of rents and common expenses for housing,” in addition to the “drag left by the update of the residential rate for the water supply service that came into effect last month.” previous”.
Other items that rose above the average were insurance and financial services (12.6% in the month, 133.5% so far this year), information and communication (7.7% monthly, 108.7% in five months), education (6.2%, 85.6%) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (6%, 88.9% in the year).
Conversely, the health segment had a fall in nominal terms in April: the variation was -4.2%, “as a result of the National Government’s decision to roll back the values of prepaid medicine fees,” the report explains. official. So far this year, it has accumulated 99.7% (296.6% in 12 months).
As a whole, goods rose 3.8% in April, and have accumulated 67.9% so far in 2024 (291.9% year-on-year).
On the other hand, services rose by 4.8%, which have a greater weight in the Buenos Aires CPI than in Indec’s national inflation estimate. This item has risen 90.6% so far in 2024 and 273.1% year-on-year.
