Ethanol rises 62% and coffee advances 50%: see the biggest rises in inflation in 2021

Prices of various products soared in 2021, show data from the IPCA (National Broad Consumer Price Index), the official indicator of inflation in Brazil.

Ethanol was the item in the country that accumulated the greatest variation last year: 62.23%.

According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), responsible for releasing the data this Tuesday (11), the fuel surge is related to the conditions of the sugarcane harvest. In 2021, crops were harmed by the drought, which reduced supply and pressured prices.

Ground coffee was the second IPCA item that rose the most last year. The variation reached 50.24%.

Climatic shocks also help to explain the coffee boom, as the lack of rain and frost punished plantations in states like Minas Gerais, a highlight in this activity.

In general terms, the IPCA rose 10.06% in 2021. The increase is the highest for the period from January to December since 2015 (10.67%).

According to the index methodology, the products and services with the greatest price variations do not always represent the main influences on the result.

Proof of this is that the 2021 IPCA was pressured especially by gasoline. Last year, fuel rose 47.49%, generating an impact of 2.34 percentage points on the general index, the main one in the survey. This occurred because gasoline has a greater weight in the basket of products and services analyzed by the IBGE.

Largest variations in the IPCA in 2021

​Accumulated from January to December, in %

Source: IBGE