Headline inflation was lower than anticipated in December, according to the national statistics agency INEGI. The rate was 7.77% during the first half of December, the lowest rate since May and just below the expected rate of 7.79%, down from 7.8% in November.
During the same period in 2021, inflation stood at 7.45%.
The core inflation rate, which excludes goods and services with more volatile prices such as food and energy, declined slightly to 8.35% annually, compared to 8.37% at the end of November. The data is above market expectations, which predicted a rate of 8.32%.
The National Consumer Price Index increased 0.39% over the last two weeks following an 0.11% decrease due to the Buen Fin shopping event in November. This is lower than the estimated 0.41% increase.
Core inflation of consumer goods also increased by 0.62% over the last two weeks, representing the largest increase since the first half of August, when it was 0.72%. Services increased by 0.51%, the most pronounced increase since the first half of December 2021, at 0.57%.
The prices of agricultural products increased by 0.34% over the first half of December, the largest jump since the first half of September. Energy costs fell 0.54%.
In terms of food prices, the costs of serrano chiles increased by 12.71%, while the costs of onions and green tomatoes fell by 9.79% and 5.84%, respectively.
Air transport most impacted inflation, registering a cost increase of 19.61%. Tourist services increased 12.71%. At the same time, the cost of liquified petroleum (LP) gas fell 3.08% and gasoline by 0.44%.
The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) raised the interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.5% on Dec. 14, indicating a slowdown of rate increases.
With reports from El Financiero
