Inflation in Saudi Arabia rises to 5.7% in September 2020

Saudi Arabia’s inflation accelerated to 5.7% in September 2020, according to recent data by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The authority said that the acceleration in consumer price inflation was due to an increase in value-added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% starting July 1, 2020, which had a general impact on annual inflation.

The cost of living index for August rose to 104.0 points according to the base year 2018, compared to 98.4 points the year before.

The majority of sectors witnessed a rise in prices year-on-year (YoY), except for the education sector.

The consumer price index (CPI) rise was mainly driven by an increase of 12.6% YoY in the average prices of food and beverages, and a 7.8% rise in transport sector.

The average prices of food and beverages rose as food prices grew by 12.8%. In addition, meat and poultry, and vegetables prices climbed by 14.7% and 18.5%, respectively.

Moreover, the tobacco sector registered the biggest increase in September by 13.3%, on the back of a 12.3% increase in cigarette prices.

The CPI reflects price changes of a fixed basket of goods and services that includes 490 items. The items were chosen based on the results of the Household Expenditure and Income Survey conducted in 2018.

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