RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's inflation registered a variation of 0.48 percent in September, the largest figure for that month since 2015, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said Friday.

It was a marked contrast from the decline of 0.09 percent registered in August.

During the first nine months of the year, inflation was at 3.34 percent, nearly double the 1.78 percent recorded during the same period in 2017.

During the previous 12-month period ending in September, the increase in prices hit 4.53 percent.

This was the first time this year that inflation went above the goal set by the Central Bank, which is 4.5 percent, although it has a margin of tolerance of 1.5 percent.

The price increase was led by the transportation sector which saw 1.69-percent increase, representing 0.31 percent of the total increase in September, said IBGE.

It is the largest increase in the transportation sector for the month of September since 1994.

Fuel prices shot up 4.18 percent due to the increase in the price of petroleum on the international market, according to the IBGE.

The government had set an inflation goal of 4.5 percent for 2018, which includes a margin of tolerance of 1.5 percentage points. The financial markets had forecast an increase in prices of 4.3 percent for the year.

In 2017, Brazil registered an inflation rate of 2.95 percent, the lowest since 1998. It was the first time the rate was below the government goal of 3 percent.