The National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced on Apr. 10 that the Transport Cost Index (ICT) rose by 2.3 percent in March, bringing the cumulative increase for the year to 2.0 percent.
This change is mainly due to higher fuel costs, which increased by 12.8 percent and contributed 2.838 percentage points to the overall monthly variation of the ICT.
Other components also showed increases: financial services rose by 4.0 percent with a contribution of 0.224 percentage points; vehicle maintenance and repair services increased by 1.3 percent, contributing 0.075 percentage points; and transport-related circulation services went up by 0.5 percent, adding another 0.045 percentage points to the index.
Spare parts and accessories for vehicle operation and maintenance recorded a monthly increase of 0.2 percent, with an impact of just over one hundredth of a point on the overall figure, while human resources costs decreased by -1.9 percent, subtracting nearly one point from the total variation.
INE also announced a change in its publication schedule for this indicator: starting this month, the ICT will be released two business days after publication of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), instead of three days after the fifteenth day each month as was previously done.
According to INE, “this change is part of institutional efforts aimed at improving timeliness and consistency in statistical dissemination while maintaining quality standards.” The institute said it will continue strengthening its statistical processes in line with international best practices.
