2023-07-24 15:46:58
In the first half of July 2023, a variation of 0.29% was registered in the National Consumer Price Index (INPC) with respect to the previous fortnight, which led to a inflation overall annual rate of 4.79%.
Despite the fact that inflation has experienced a “cooling off”, it is still above the target range established by the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) of 3% +/- one percentage point, a trend that began in March 2021.
Compared to the same period in 2022, biweekly inflation was 0.43%, while annual inflation was 8.16%. The underlying price index increased 0.24% biweekly and 6.76% annually. In the same period, the non-core price index experienced a biweekly increase of 0.44% and a decrease of 0.97% in the annual rate.
In the breakdown of the core index, merchandise prices rose 0.18% on a biweekly basis, while services prices rose 0.32%.
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On the other hand, within the non-core index, the prices of agricultural products increased by 1.13% in a fortnightly rate, while the prices of energy and tariffs authorized by the government decreased by 0.17%.
As for underlying inflation, it stood at 6.76% annually in the first half of July, which represents a decrease compared to the 6.86% registered at the end of June, although it is still higher than the 6.73% expected by the market.
The data for the first two weeks of July is the lowest since the first half of March of the previous year, according to Inegi data.
The moderation in core inflation is due to lower pressures in the merchandise segment, which registered an annual rate of 7.99%, the lowest level since the second half of January 2022. In contrast, services had a rebound for the second consecutive fortnight, reaching inflation of 5.29% per year in the first half of July, compared to 5.27% registered at the end of June.
Among the services with the highest annual increases are auto insurance with 14.95%, air transport with 9.44% and laundry service with 8.11%.
Regarding the non-core component, a deflation of 0.97% per year was observed in the first half of July, higher than the 0.74% of the previous fortnight. This represents the second consecutive fortnight with negative data in this area from the first half of April 2020 to the first half of May of the same year, due to the collapse in energy prices during the 2020 pandemic.
Compared to the previous fortnight, non-core inflation increased by 0.44%, the highest figure since the second half of April this year and the most moderate rate for the same fortnight since 2017.
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The prices of agricultural products showed an annual inflation of 2.52%, the lowest since the second half of March of the previous year. Meanwhile, energy prices and rates authorized by the government experienced a deflation of 3.93% per year, which represents eight consecutive fortnights with negative annual rates for the first time from March 2020 to June of the same year.
Compared to June, the products that reported the greatest price decrease were grapes, with a drop of 17.77%, green tomatoes with a decrease of 3.49%, and domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LP) with a price decline of 2.80%.
On the other hand, the products that showed price increases due to inflation during the fortnight were air transport, with an increase of 18.89%; avocado, with an increase of 18.51%; onion with an increase of 16.10%, followed by chayote, serrano pepper, orange, banana, lettuce and cabbage.
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