Panel SA: Brazilians lead the perception of inflation in more than 20 countries, according to a survey

New data point to the growing concern of Brazilians with inflation this year.

The country where consumers most felt the increase in food prices in the first two months was Brazil, according to a February survey carried out in 24 countries by the consumer data science company Dunnhumby.

In Brazil, the feeling of high reached almost 43% in the period. Then come Colombia and Chile, where the perception of inflation for consumers was around 34% and 32%, respectively.

According to Dunnhumby, in the general average of the countries analyzed, consumers overestimate the real inflation rate by less than 15 percentage points, while Brazil leads the list with more than 30 points away from official data.

Also according to the study, more than 62% seek value for money. To circumvent the increase at the time of shopping, the predominant strategies are to search online channels for the best deals and compare prices. Almost half say they only buy if it’s on sale.

Brazilians’ fear of rising prices is also growing on the internet, according to another survey by the .MAP agency, with 1.4 million daily publications made on Twitter and Facebook.

In March, for the first time, inflation took the first place in the ranking of the most popular subjects since the monitoring of .MAP began in 2015, according to the company.

Joana Cunha with Andressa Motter and Ana Paula Branco