by Gabriel Dudena de Faria (Probolsas’s scholar) and Daniel Christian Henrique
The life cost in Brazil is constantly rising in this period of resumption of face-to-face activities with the pandemic mitigation, caused by COVID-19. The cost of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the typical kitchen gas and the “Food parcel”, the measure of food for one person to survive for a month in Brazil, how already had being raising since 2017, hit its biggest annual médium increase in 2021 (DIEESE, 2022) The DIEESE developed an index named “Minimum Necessary Wage”, which evaluated the real minimum wage to a Family constituted by 4 people (2 adults and 2 childrens) to live a month with the Food parcel.
| Date | Minimum wage necessary | Minimum wage nominal | Minimum wage nominal / Necessary |
| 2012 | R$ 2.463,81 | R$ 622,00 | 25,25% |
| 2013 | R$ 2.765,33 | R$ 678,00 | 24,52% |
| 2014 | R$ 2.925,16 | R$ 724,00 | 24,75% |
| 2015 | R$ 3.280,75 | R$ 788,00 | 24,02% |
| 2016 | R$ 3.875,13 | R$ 880,00 | 22,71% |
| 2017 | R$ 3.744,52 | R$ 937,00 | 25,02% |
| 2018 | R$ 3.755,25 | R$ 954,00 | 25,40% |
| 2019 | R$ 4.135,85 | R$ 998,00 | 24,13% |
| 2020 | R$ 4.717,49 | R$ 1.045,00 | 22,15% |
| 2021 | R$ 5.558,91 | R$ 1.100,00 | 19,79% |
| 2022 | R$ 6.338,76 | R$ 1.212,00 | 19,12% |
We can see in the sheet above that in the last ten years, the Minimum Wage nominal was only 25% of the minimum wage necessary, this percentage stayed in this set percentage until 2019 approximately, but since the start of COVID-19, already have been settled a lower rate, being now a days at 19,1%, a big sloping on the purchase power of the brazilians.
In the other part the food price, which is the main part of the brazilian Food parcel, reached a raise of 26,75% in the last 12 months, considering the feat of being double of the IPCA 11,76% in the same period, which is already high. These data are studies of the economist Jackson Teixeira Bittencourt from PUC-PR (ISTOÉ DINHEIRO, 2022). Some capitals surpass 6% of raise from march to april, like Campo grande and Porto Alegre followed by Florianópolis, São paulo and Curitiba. São Paulo tout the most expensive Basic Casket of the country, followed by Florianópolis and Porto alegre. (AGÊNCIA BRASIL, 2022)
The consume of Food parcels has as a prerequisite to fulfill the food cycle of the family, which includes lunch and dinner, that needs to be cooked. So they need to buy a gas canister of LPG, being this one as necessary as the Food parcel in the basic cost to compare with the minimum wage. The constant increase of LPG had brought a high price for the monthly wallet of the brazilian. Since june of 2022 there has been a raise of 20% in comparison to last year, being the second biggest rate in the last decade, only being surpassed by 2021 - with a raise of 30%.
The Group of Finance Analytics from UFSC had research in another newsletter the impact of the constant raise of LPG is bringing to the nominal minimum wage in the four biggest cities in Santa Catarina, a equivalent cost of 11,92 in 2022 (considering the max price find to the canister) in Balneário Camboriú. The numbers don’t stop to raise since 2019 (GPFA, 2022)
Therefor, the objective of this newsletter is to find out who much the Minimum Wage (R$) (MW) has being compromised by LPG and Basic Casket (R$), separately and in conjunct (LPG+BC), in the last 10 years and 5 months, in the main capitals of the south region of Brazil. All temporal series had been collected from January 2012 to May 2022. the monthly series had been passed to annual by simple average. The temporal series of Minimum Wage and the price of Food parcel in the three capitals had been collected in DIEESE (2022). The prices of LPG had been collected in ANP (2022).
| Year | Basic Casket | Variation % | Minimum Wage | Variation % | Medium Price LPG | Variation % | LPG+BC | Variation % |
| 2012 | R$ 273,81 | R$ 662,00 | R$ 43,65 | R$ 317,45 | ||||
| 2013 | R$ 300,80 | 9,86% | R$ 678,00 | 2,42% | R$ 44,51 | 1,97% | R$ 345,31 | 8,78% |
| 2014 | R$ 344,67 | 14,58% | R$ 724,00 | 6,78% | R$ 45,61 | 2,47% | R$ 390,28 | 13,02% |
| 2015 | R$ 382,18 | 10,88% | R$ 788,00 | 8,84% | R$ 50,52 | 10,77% | R$ 432,70 | 10,87% |
| 2016 | R$ 448,01 | 17,22% | R$ 880,00 | 11,68% | R$ 56,40 | 11,64% | R$ 504,41 | 16,57% |
| 2017 | R$ 431,46 | -3,69% | R$ 937,00 | 6,48% | R$ 60,14 | 6,63% | R$ 491,61 | -2,54% |
| 2018 | R$ 435,09 | 0,84% | R$ 954,00 | 1,81% | R$ 70,21 | 16,74% | R$ 505,31 | 2,79% |
| 2019 | R$ 472,48 | 8,59% | R$ 998,00 | 4,61% | R$ 71,09 | 1,25% | R$ 543,57 | 7,57% |
| 2020 | R$ 543,03 | 14,93% | R$ 1.045,00 | 4,71% | R$ 75,53 | 6,25% | R$ 618,56 | 13,80% |
| 2021 | R$ 659,77 | 21,50% | R$ 1.100,00 | 5,26% | R$ 98,54 | 30,46% | R$ 758,31 | 22,59% |
| 2022* | R$ 741,74 | 12,42% | R$ 1.212,00 | 10,18% | R$ 118,20 | 19,95% | R$ 859,94 | 13,40% |
| AVERAGE | 10,71% | 6,28% | 10,81% | 10,69% |
*until the month of may. Source: Adapted from ANP (2022); DIEESE (2022)
In this graphic above we see the progression of all factors in comparison to the latter years. We can see that even 2018, which has considerable growth of LPG, reaching 17%. But in 2021 that comparison doubled, reaching 30% of raise. This year of 2022, only considering until may, already accounted for a raise of 20% in comparison to the last year, so probably this record of 2021 will be beaten until the end of the year. The Food parcel also accounted for a significant raise, reaching 21% in 2021, in the other way, the minimum wage still resist to pass the 10% mark, making visible the retroaction in the purchasing power of the workers of Florianópolis city in comparison to the basic food, mainly in lower classes families.
Next, the percentage representation of the Food parcel and the PLG in the minimum wage in the last decade
| Year | (LPG+BC) /SW | BC/MW | LPG/SW |
| 2012 | 47,95% | 41,36% | 6,59% |
| 2013 | 50,93% | 44,37% | 6,56% |
| 2014 | 53,91% | 47,61% | 6,30% |
| 2015 | 54,91% | 48,50% | 6,41% |
| 2016 | 57,32% | 50,91% | 6,41% |
| 2017 | 52,47% | 46,05% | 6,42% |
| 2018 | 52,97% | 45,61% | 7,36% |
| 2019 | 54,47% | 47,34% | 7,12% |
| 2020 | 59,19% | 51,96% | 7,23% |
| 2021 | 68,94% | 59,98% | 8,96% |
| 2022* | 70,95% | 61,20% | 9,75% |
| Year | Basic Casket | Variation % | Minimum Wage | Variation % | Medium Price LPG | Variation % | LPG+BC | Variation % |
| 2012 | R$ 264,13 | R$ 662,00 | R$ 36,69 | R$ 300,83 | ||||
| 2013 | R$ 291,92 | 10,5% | R$ 678,00 | 2,4% | R$ 37,99 | 3,5% | R$ 329,91 | 9,7% |
| 2014 | R$ 315,73 | 8,2% | R$ 724,00 | 6,8% | R$ 39,01 | 2,7% | R$ 354,74 | 7,5% |
| 2015 | R$ 358,31 | 13,5% | R$ 788,00 | 8,8% | R$ 47,49 | 21,7% | R$ 405,80 | 14,4% |
| 2016 | R$ 412,94 | 15,2% | R$ 880,00 | 11,7% | R$ 55,23 | 16,3% | R$ 468,18 | 15,4% |
| 2017 | R$ 390,16 | -5,5% | R$ 937,00 | 6,5% | R$ 55,49 | 0,5% | R$ 445,64 | -4,8% |
| 2018 | R$ 400,64 | 2,7% | R$ 954,00 | 1,8% | R$ 65,19 | 17,5% | R$ 465,83 | 4,5% |
| 2019 | R$ 435,29 | 8,6% | R$ 998,00 | 4,6% | R$ 65,25 | 0,1% | R$ 500,54 | 7,5% |
| 2020 | R$ 506,58 | 16,4% | R$ 1.045,00 | 4,7% | R$ 67,09 | 2,8% | R$ 573,66 | 14,6% |
| 2021 | R$ 604,93 | 19,4% | R$ 1.100,00 | 5,3% | R$ 89,79 | 33,8% | R$ 694,73 | 21,1% |
| 2022* | R$ 688,80 | 13,9% | R$ 1.212,00 | 10,2% | R$ 104,04 | 15,9% | R$ 792,85 | 14,1% |
| AVERAGE | 10,29% | 6,28% | 11,48% | 10,40% |
*until the month of may. Source: Adapted from ANP (2022); DIEESE (2022)
| Year | (LPG+BC) /SW | BC/MW | LPG/SW |
| 2012 | 45,44% | 39,90% | 5,54% |
| 2013 | 48,66% | 43,06% | 5,60% |
| 2014 | 49,00% | 43,61% | 5,39% |
| 2015 | 51,50% | 45,47% | 6,03% |
| 2016 | 53,20% | 46,93% | 6,28% |
| 2017 | 47,56% | 41,64% | 5,92% |
| 2018 | 48,83% | 42,00% | 6,83% |
| 2019 | 50,15% | 43,62% | 6,54% |
| 2020 | 54,90% | 48,48% | 6,42% |
| 2021 | 63,16% | 54,99% | 8,16% |
| 2022* | 65,42% | 56,83% | 8,58% |
| Year | Basic Casket | Variation % | Minimum Wage | Variation % | Medium Price LPG | Variation % | LPG+BC | Variation % |
| 2012 | R$ 286,32 | R$ 662,00 | R$ 39,95 | R$ 326,27 | ||||
| 2013 | R$ 318,80 | 11,3% | R$ 678,00 | 2,4% | R$ 44,13 | 10,5% | R$ 362,93 | 11,2% |
| 2014 | R$ 340,52 | 6,8% | R$ 724,00 | 6,8% | R$ 43,83 | -0,7% | R$ 384,36 | 5,9% |
| 2015 | R$ 381,60 | 12,1% | R$ 788,00 | 8,8% | R$ 50,02 | 14,1% | R$ 431,62 | 12,3% |
| 2016 | R$ 452,73 | 18,6% | R$ 880,00 | 11,7% | R$ 58,47 | 16,9% | R$ 511,20 | 18,4% |
| 2017 | R$ 445,72 | -1,5% | R$ 937,00 | 6,5% | R$ 61,70 | 5,5% | R$ 507,42 | -0,7% |
| 2018 | R$ 441,02 | -1,1% | R$ 954,00 | 1,8% | R$ 68,41 | 10,9% | R$ 509,44 | 0,4% |
| 2019 | R$ 475,76 | 7,9% | R$ 998,00 | 4,6% | R$ 69,25 | 1,2% | R$ 545,00 | 7,0% |
| 2020 | R$ 538,21 | 13,1% | R$ 1.045,00 | 4,7% | R$ 70,14 | 1,3% | R$ 608,34 | 11,6% |
| 2021 | R$ 653,41 | 21,4% | R$ 1.100,00 | 5,3% | R$ 92,39 | 31,7% | R$ 745,80 | 22,6% |
| 2022* | R$ 730,56 | 11,8% | R$ 1.212,00 | 10,2% | R$ 110,84 | 20,0% | R$ 841,40 | 12,8% |
| AVERAGE | 10,05% | 6,28% | 11,14% | 10,15% |
*until the month of may. Source: Adapted from ANP (2022); DIEESE (2022)
| Year | (LPG+BC) /SW | BC/MW | LPG/SW |
| 2012 | 49,29% | 43,25% | 6,04% |
| 2013 | 53,53% | 47,02% | 6,51% |
| 2014 | 53,09% | 47,03% | 6,05% |
| 2015 | 54,77% | 48,43% | 6,35% |
| 2016 | 58,09% | 51,45% | 6,64% |
| 2017 | 54,15% | 47,57% | 6,58% |
| 2018 | 53,40% | 46,23% | 7,17% |
| 2019 | 54,61% | 47,67% | 6,94% |
| 2020 | 58,21% | 51,50% | 6,71% |
| 2021 | 67,80% | 59,40% | 8,40% |
| 2022* | 69,42% | 60,28% | 9,15% |
CONCLUSIONS
1 – Since 2019 the three capitals of the south show consecutive increases in your Food parcel and in the 13kg gas canister.
2 – In Florianópolis, the comparison of the Food parcel prices between 2012 and 2022 shows a raise of 171% to the cost of the Food parcel and to the same appear in the LPG - meanwhile the minimum wage only increased 83% in the same period. This is the biggest discrepancy between the three capitals .
3 –Porto Alegre was the capital with the biggest increase in the comparison between LPG canister and the minimum wage between 2012 and 2022. The LPG reached a raise of 177%, meanwhile the minimum wage only increased 83%.
4 -The biggest average variation between 2012 and 2022 of the price of 13kg LPG canister is from Curitiba, counting with an average increase of 11,48% per year.
5 -The biggest variation of the Food parcel between 2012 and 2022 belongs to Florianópolis with a avere increase of 10,71% per year.
6 -The average increase of the minimum wage between 2012 and 2022 was 6,3% per year. The average increase of LPG + Basic Casket was 10,7% to Florianópolis, 10,4% to Curitiba and 10,2% to Porto Alegre, showing this way a significant decrease of the purchasing power with the minimum wage.
7 - This loss of purchasing power can be seen in the percentage representation of the prices of the food parcel + LPG canister in the minimum wage from the employees. Florianópolis has the biggest loss to the workers income, reaching 70,95% of the minimum wage, followed by Porto Alegre with 69,42% and Curitiba with 65,42%.
8 – In 2022, until may, Florianópolis had emerged as the capital with the highest prices to food parcel (R$ 741,74), LPG (R$118,20) and consequently the conjunt of food parcel + LPG (R$ 859,94) in the serie started in 2012
References:
ANP. Série histórica do levantamento de preços Acesso em 23 de junho de 2022
ISTOÉ Dinheiro. Inflação da cesta básica sobe quase 27% em 12 meses, mais que o dobro do IPCA Acesso em 23 de junho de 2022
AGÊNCIA BRASIL. Custo da cesta básica aumenta nas 17 capitais pesquisadas pelo Dieese Acesso em 23 de junho de 2022
DIEESE. Salário mínimo nominal e necessário Acesso em 23 de junho de 2022
DIEESE. Banco de dados Cesta Básica de Alimentos Acesso em 23 de junho de 2022
IPEA. Salário mínimo real Acesso em 23 de junho de 2022
GPFA. Comprometimento do Salário mínimo com o Botijão de fás em quatro municípios de Santa Catarina: um crescimento insustentável Acesso em 27 de junho de 2022