Inflation dropped 1.2% in December

SANTIAGO.- According to an announcement made by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) this morning, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered a drop of 1.2% fro the month of December 2008. The figure is the lowest reported since 1966.

With the new figure, the accumulated inflation for the year has reached 7.1%.

Meanwhile, the market had forecasted that inflation would fall only 0.6% during the last month of 2008.

The most significant price drops were noted in the sectors of Transportation (-6.4%), Housing (0.8%), Food (-0.5%) and Clothing (-0.3%).

Price increases were registered, however, in the sectors of Other (1.0%), Education and Recreation (0.5%), Household Equipment (0.3%) and Health (0.1%).

The INE indicated that 2008 was marked by increases in seven of the eight groups included in the Consumer Price basket, with transportation being the only sector that reported a drop in prices.

The percentage variations for the groups were as follows: Food 14.7%, Housing 8.6%, Housing Equipment 3.2%, Clothing 0.7%, Transportation -4.2%, Health 4.5%, Education and Recreation 6.0% and Other 17.3%.