According to information revealed by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane), 2023 began with inflation of 13.25 percentin annual terms, which is almost double when compared to the 6.94 percent reported in January of last year.
The director of Dane, Piedad Urdinola, said that high inflation during this month is traditional in the Colombian economy due to the increases that occur at the beginning of the year.
(Also read: Reasons why inflation continues unstoppable, despite Petro shock measures)
Regarding the monthly data, last January the cost of living increased 1.78 percent. A year ago it was only 1.67 percent. What marked the data the most was transportation (0.51 percent) which had a variation of 3.98 percent, due to the increases that were registered in tariffs and gasoline.
It is worth mentioning that 2022 closed with an annual inflation of 13.12 percent due to the high cost of food and utilities.
In the last year, the divisions Food and non-alcoholic beverages (26.18 percent), Restaurants and hotels (19.36 percent), Furniture, articles for the home and for ordinary household maintenance (17.52 percent ), Transportation (13.92 percent) and, lastly, Miscellaneous goods and services (13.80 percent) were above the national average.
The greatest contributions to the annual variation of inflation were registered in food (4.69 percent)public services such as water, electricity and gas (2.24 percent), restaurants and hotels (1.94 percent) and transportation (1.79 percent), which together contributed 10.66 percentage points to the annual accumulated of said variation.
(Also read: The country’s highways suffer almost 3 blockades every day; there were 81 in January)
As for more specific data, in January 2023 the annual variations that contributed the most to inflation were meals in restaurants (19.75 percent), electricity (20.95 percent)new or used private vehicle (22.89 percent) and imputed rent (3.81 percent).
In addition to urban transport (10.47 percent), rice (53.03 percent), beef and derivatives (18.25 percent)meals prepared outside the home for immediate consumption (21.29 percent), milk (35.98 percent) and cleaning and maintenance products (33.84 percent).
inflation by cities
Cúcuta, the city that registers inflation, continues to be the highest in the country, with 15.91 percent. It is followed by Sincelejo (15.45 percent), Montería (15.25 percent) and Valledupar (15.22 percent).
On the contrary, the lowest cost of living is recorded in Bogota (12.71 percent)Manizales (12.83 percent), Villavicencio (12.84 percent), Pereira (12.85 percent) and Medellín (12.94 percent).
Regarding the level of income, in January annual inflation for poor households was 14.76 percent; for the vulnerable, 14.68 percent; for the middle class, 13.35 percent; and for high-income families, 11.98 percent.
