Venezuela's national consumer prices index (CPI), as reported by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) and the National Statistics Institute (INE), was 1.7 percent in January, significantly lower than in January 2009 (2.3 percent) and at the same rate as in last December.

The BCV said in a statement that with this result, the year-to-year variation in January 2010 was 24.3 percent, lower than the previous month (25.1 percent) and lower than the index recorded in January 2009 (29.9 percent). This is the lowest figure recorded since the national CPI is calculated.

By examining the geographical breakdown of the CPI, it shows that 6 of the 11 areas of study showed lower rates than the previous month: Maracay (from 1.8 percent to 1.7 percent), Barcelona- Puerto La Cruz (from 1.7 percent to 1.5 `percent), the rest of the country (from 1.6 percent to 1.4 percent), Valencia (from 2.1 percent to 1.7 percent), Barquisimeto (from 1.8 percent to 1.3 percent) and Maracaibo (from 2.6 percent to 1.5 percent). By contrast, in the 5 remaining regions, the inflation rate in January was higher than or equal to December: Caracas (from 1.3 percent to 2.4 percent), San Cristóbal (from 1.4 percent to 2.1 percent), Mérida (from 1.2 percent to 1.7 percent), Ciudad Guayana (from 1.7 percent to 1.8 percent) and Maturín (it remained at 2.1 percent).