Spiking Food Costs Threaten Inflation Progress for Brazil’s Poor
- Annual inflation slowed most for poorest Brazilians in 2023
- El Nino weather effects now making staple foods more expensive
Shoppers purchase produce at a market in the Madureira neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Photographer: Maria Magdalena Arrellaga/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
No one benefited more from Brazil’s easing inflation than its poorest residents last year. But a sudden spike in food costs is now hitting those same Brazilians hardest, adding to the challenges facing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s promises of cheaper “barbecue and beer for all” in 2024.
Annual inflation for families earning less than 2,000 reais ($405.70) tumbled to 3.27% in December from 6.35% a year prior, the biggest slowdown for any income level, according to figures released Wednesday by the national Institute for Applied Economic Research.