The Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-3i), calculated by FGV’s Brazilian Institute of Economics (FGV IBRE), which measures consumer good variations in households composed primarily of individuals aged 60 or older, showed a variation of 2.30% in the second quarter of 2018. The CPI-3i was up 5.14% year-over-year. With this result, the indicator varied above the Consumer Price Index (CPI-BR), which stood at 4.43% in the same period.

Between the first and second quarters of 2018, the CPI-3i increased by 1.41 percentage points, leaping from 0.89% to 2.30%. Six of the eight expense categories covered by the index recorded increases in their variations. The Housing group was the main driver behind such trend, rising from 0.07% to 3.08%. Within this expense category, the item driving this trend was household power bill, which was up 13.97% in the second quarter, compared to -2.05% in the previous quarter.

The following categories also contributed to the higher CPI-3i: Food (1.41% to 2.50%), Health and Personal Care (1.59% to 2.55%), Transport (1.61% to 2.39%), Clothing (-0.02% to 1.05%), and Communication (-0.13% to 0.09%). The following items stood out within these expense classes: dairy products (0.84% to 8.22%), medications in general (0.09% to 3.17%), gasoline (2.81% to 7.83%), clothing (-0.02% to 1.26%), and monthly cable TV fee (-0.42% to 1.80%), respectively.

On the other hand, the Education, Reading and Recreation (0.73% to -0.98%) and Miscellaneous Expenses (0.62% to 0.35%) groups yielded lower rates. The main drivers behind this trend were tours and vacations (-2.91% to -5.75%) and notary office (2.87% to 0.12%), respectively.

The CPI-3i for the third quarter of 2018 will be released on October 11. The complete study is available on the website.