Never since 2016 has Brazil experienced such a high rate of inflation.

+ 10.25% over the last 12 months, the IBGE Statistics Institute announced on Friday.

This surge was recorded after a month of September when the price increase reached 1.16%, its highest rate in 27 years.

Since the start of the year, prices have risen 6.90% in Brazil, according to the IBGE, well above the official target for Latin America's largest economy.

Brazil is currently experiencing a strong surge in prices which has justified five consecutive hikes in its key rate by the central bank, now at 6.25%, while it was at its historic low of 2% at the start of the year.

A further increase is expected at the end of the month in this rate, the main tool in the fight against inflation.

Eating meat has become a luxury

Soaring prices are also pushing millions of Brazilians into an increasingly precarious situation.

Food and transport prices in particular have undergone strong surges.

The consumption of meat has become a luxury for many Brazilians, and according to a report by the PENSSAN association, 117 million people, or more than half of the population, live in a situation of "food insecurity", not having not “full access to food on a permanent basis”.

The situation could get even worse due to the dizzying rise in fuel prices and the energy crisis caused by the worst drought in 91 years in the country.

A spike in inflation before a drop in prices

Inflation had not reached double digits in Brazil since February 2016, when it was 10.36%, recalls the IBGE.

In September 2020 the price increase was 0.64%.

Inflation over the last 12 months in August stood at 9.68%.

August had the worst result for this month since 2000, driven by rising fuel and electricity prices.

Current inflation is well above the official target for this year of a median rate of 3.75% with a ceiling of 5.25%.

The market generally predicts an inflation rate of 8.51% at the end of the year.

But the President of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, recently estimated that "September should see the peak of inflation over 12 months" before "a drop" in prices.

One year before the presidential election, soaring inflation is with unemployment affecting 14.1 million Brazilians an economic headache for President Jair Bolsonaro, whose popularity has fallen to its lowest level, with only 22 % of favorable opinions.

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