Number of the week

Food prices are soaring faster than inflation

Over the past 12 months, inflation has reached 5.2 percent. Food products were the prime culprits

food prices brazil — Rice — a staple ingredient in Brazilians’ diet — becoming 69.8 percent more expensive. Photo: RHJPhtotoandilustration/Shutterstock

Mar 13, 2021 14:12 2 min read (Updated: May 15, 2021 7:08)

Welcome to “Number of the Week,” where we choose a single figure that helps understand what is going on in Brazil. This week’s number reveals how food prices have skyrocketed in Brazil:

69.8 percent

During the financial crisis of 2015, business associations used a yellow rubber duck as a symbol for their disgruntlement with then-President Dilma Rousseff. It was a reference to the Brazilian expression of “paying for the duck,” which is when one is left to pay for something that is not their responsibility. The message was that the people were tired of paying for the government’s mistakes.

Now,...