The Third Age Consumer Price Index (IPC-3i), which measures the change in the consumer basket of Brazilian families mostly composed of individuals over 60 years old, varied by 0.68% in the third quarter of 2017. The IPC-3i accrued a 12-month increase of 3.53%, which is higher than the 3.17% rate for the Consumer Price Index (IPC-BR) in the same period. The index is calculated by FGV's Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE).

Between the second and third quarters of 2017, the IPC-3i rate rose 0.18 percentage points, increasing from 0.50% to 0.68%. Three out of the eight expense categories comprising the index recorded increasing variation rates. The main contribution came from the Transportation category, whose rate climbed from -0.52% to 3.14%. The item that most influenced the behavior of this expense category was gasoline, which varied 11.98% in the third quarter, compared to -3.16% in the previous quarter.

The following categories also contributed to the increase in the IPC-3i: Housing (0.40% to 1.08%) and Education, Reading, and Recreation (0.08% to 1.42%). For each of these expense categories, the behavior of the following items is worth mentioning: residential electricity tariff (-2.46% to 3.80%) and airfare (-8.04% to 16.62%), respectively.

On the other hand, the categories Health and Personal Care (2.70% to 1.21%), Food (-0.94% to -2.19%), Apparel (1.18% to 0.62%), Communication (0.75% to 0.40%), and Miscellaneous Expenses (1.16% to 0.74%) recorded decreased variation rates. The items that contributed most to these changes were: medicine in general (3.43% to -0.23%), greens and vegetables (4.84% to -16.26%), clothing (1.58% to 0.82%), cable TV monthly fee (2.86% to 0.54%), and pet food (4.45% to 1.68 %), respectively.

The IPC-3i for the fourth quarter of 2017 will be released on January 10, 2018. The complete results of the survey are available on this website.