Saudi inflation up 2.2% in August

25/09/2018 Argaam Special

 

Saudi Arabia’s inflation rate rose 2.2 percent in August 2018, the latest figures from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed.

 

The cost of living index leveled up to 107.3 points in August, compared to 104.9 points in the same month last year.

 

"Saudi inflation was unchanged between July and August, but we still expect it to rise a little over the rest of this year as underlying price pressures pick up," London-based Capital Economics (CE) said in a note on Tuesday.
 
CE added that it expects inflation to decline to around 1.0 percent at the start of 2019 as the effects of the new VAT and administered price hikes fall out of the annual comparison.

 

The GASTAT changed the base year for the consumer price index to 2013 from 2007 and adjusted the basket of goods and services.

 

Saudi Inflation Rate

Month

Inflation rate*

January 2017

(0.6%)

February

(0.6%)

March

(0.7%)

April

(0.7%)

May

(0.8%)

June

(0.5%)

July

(0.8%)

August

(0.8%)

September

(0.8%)

October

(1.2%)

November

(1.7%)

December

(1.1%)

January 2018

+3.0%

February

+2.9%

March

+2.8%

April

+2.5%

May

+2.3%

June

+2.1%

July

+2.2%

August

+2.2%

*Updated for base year 2013

 

Prices of ten main groups in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket increased, led by transportation, which increased 10.5 percent in August.

 

Apparel & footwear and housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel saw a decrease of 8.5 and 1.3 percent respectively.

 

The following table shows the most important changes in the main groups in the CPI between August 2017 and 2018:

 

CPI YoY comparison (August 2018/2017)

Main Groups

Variation (%)

Transportation

+10.5%

Tobacco

+9.9%

Hotels & Restaurants

+8.4%

Food & Beverages

+6.6%

Healthcare

+4.0%

Telecommunications

+1.4%

Entertainment & culture

+1.0%

Home Furniture & Maintenance

+0.5%

Education

+0.5%

Goods & various services

+0.2%

Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Fuel

(1.3%)

Apparel & Footwear

(8.5%)

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