He Consumer Price Index (CPI) March had a monthly variation of 0.9% and an interannual variation of 7.33%, according to the latest report from the National Statistics Institute (INE); and although inflation fell compared to previous months, there were significant increases in certain products and services that were felt in the pockets of people in Uruguay.
Between the items that increased the most last month food and non-alcoholic beverages stood out particularly. They are followed by housing, education, restaurants and accommodation services in the last month of the summer season and the first of classes in the whole country.
What was the increase in each item?
In this sense, the category Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages had an increase of 2.24% and represented 0.59 points of monthly variation. The products that had the most increases in their prices were fruits and vegetables, with a 10.9% and 12.35% increase, respectively. This is mainly due to the drought that affects a large part of agricultural production.
Above all, the impact of water deficit It can be seen in the price of carrots (+41.53), lettuce (+28.01%), potatoes (+20.17%) and citrus fruits such as oranges (+31.15%) and lemons (+14.30%).
Likewise, the item of fresh, refrigerated or frozen meat increased by 0.52%, with the increases in the roast strip (+1.94%) and the meat hamburger prepared for cooking (+2.64%) as the highlights. Milk and other dairy products also saw increases of 0.50%, while eggs increased by 2.81% in the context of concerns about the bird flu and its spread across the country—although there have not yet been any cases on commercial farms.
Non-alcoholic beverages, for their part, increased by 1.20%, with instant soluble coffee (+3.46%) and soft drinks (+2.31%) in the lead.
The Education Services experienced the highest increase, 3.85%, at the beginning of a new school year. In detail, it can be seen that Primary Education was the level that increased the most, with 5.17%, followed by Preschool Education (+5.01%), Secondary Education (+4.95%) and of languages (+2.75%).
Refering to Living place, this sector increased by 0.21%, mainly due to the increase in rents during March (+0.50%). AND Restaurants and Lodging Services increased by 0.48% at the end of the tourist season: the increase in prices in different services of Restaurants, cafes and the like (+0.82%) is the most notable, although there was a drop in Hotel prices (-7.20%).
Source: Ambito
