Basic basket price drops in 11 capitals, shows Dieese

The price of the basic food basket fell in 11 capitals in May compared to April. The biggest falls occurred in Brasília (-1.9%) and Campo Grande (-1.85%). The main increases were observed in Salvador (1.42%) and Curitiba (1.41%). The data, released this Tuesday (6), are from the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese), which monthly surveys the price of the basket in 17 capitals.

São Paulo was the capital where basic foodstuffs had the highest cost (R$791.82), followed by Porto Alegre (R$781.56), Florianópolis (R$765.13) and Rio de Janeiro (R$ $749.76). The lowest values ​​were registered in Aracaju (R$ 553.76), João Pessoa (R$ 580.95) and Recife (R$ 587.13).

Comparing the price of the basket in May 2023 with the same month in 2022, there was an increase in 14 capitals, with variations ranging from 0.98%, in Aracaju, to 7.03%, in Fortaleza. In three capitals there was decrease: Recife (-1.47%), Curitiba (-1.38%) and Florianópolis (-0.9%).

In the accumulated of the first five months of the year (from January to May), the cost of the basic food basket increased in 11 capitals, with emphasis on the accumulated rates in Aracaju (6.28%), Belém (4.75%) and Salvador ( 4.14%). The falls, which occurred in six capitals, ranged from -4.24%, in Belo Horizonte, to -0.4%, in Rio de Janeiro.

Based on the most expensive basket, which, in May, was that of São Paulo, and taking into account the constitutional determination that the minimum wage should be sufficient to meet the expenses of a worker’s family with food, housing, health, education , clothing, hygiene, transport, leisure and social security, Dieese estimated that the value of the minimum wage needed, in May, should have been R$ 6,652.09 or 5.04 times the current minimum, of R$ 1,320.