Cassava, soaps and paper, among those that have risen the most in 2022

The money is no longer enough. Or at least that is the reality perceived by a good part of Colombian families, because during the first semester the prices of the basic basket increased by 7.09%. Products such as cassava, tomato and onion, household cleaning items, and even stationery appear among the categories with the highest inflation so far this year as of June.

(Inflation in Colombia is at greater risk towards 2023, according to experts).

This week the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) published the report of the consumer price index (CPI) for the sixth month of the year in which several products stand out due to the increases in the first half of the year.

The most affected are several foods, and Cassava, which in that period experienced an increase of 86.8%, is the one that has risen the most so far in 2022. Other everyday products also appear in the Colombian diet, such as tomatoes (47.2%), onions (40.83%), carrots (40.19%), arracacha, yams and other tubers (38.67 %), rice (32.11%), bananas (28.07%) and milk (25.29%).

(More than 50% of people, in the task of cutting expenses).

But inflation is no longer limited to the category of food and alcoholic beverages, which is the one that has led the CPI to rise the most so far this year, with a contribution of 2.77 percentage points (pps) and an increase of 15.76%, but also extends to other products.

“In second place are the goods and services for home maintenance, we are seeing the powder detergent and the associated elements of cleaning products observing a very important inflation, of 11.09%”, said the director of Dane, Juan Daniel Oviedo, who highlighted increases in supplies to manufacture powdered detergent or soap to wash dishes.

This is how, within this category, cleaning and maintenance products rose 22.12% in the first six months of the yearwhile toiletries rose 13.19%.

Other products that showed high inflation in the first semester, beyond food, are stationery items, such as notebooks, diaries, loose paper and reams, with an increase of 13.28%. Although to a lesser extent, articles for writing rose 5.69% in the first semester, while articles for painting and drawing increased 4.86% between January and June.

On the services side, electricity reached a variation of 13.2% in the first half of the year, while the charge for the sewage service rose by 9.13%, that of the water supply by 7.09 % and garbage collection at 7.39% for that period. In the case of leases, the rise that is perceived in the semester is 2.17% in the case of the effective lease and 2.11% in the imputed lease.

Vehicle insurance, for its part, rose in price by 12.24% from January to June 2022, among other goods and services that are putting pressure on the pockets of Colombians.

Sergio Olarte, chief economist at Scotiabank Colpatria, highlighted how “a fairly pronounced inflation of items used for home care, for example, detergents, among others, is taking place; and on the other hand, living in homes is becoming more expensive since rents are having a very important inflation”.

From Credicorp Capital it was highlighted in a comment that “the pressures on the IPC basket continue to be large, although a transition is currently taking place due to the fact that food is no longer the main source of increase in consumer prices.”

LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
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