The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July 2019. The CPI of July 2019 reached to 108.22 point (base year is 2013), showing a decrease of 0.16% when compared to CPI of June 2019. Compared to CPI of July 2018, [Y-o-Y basis], a decrease of 0.63% has been recorded in the general index (CPI) of this month. 

     

An analysis [on M-o-M basis] of CPI for July 2019 compared with June 2019 CPI, shows that there are six main groups, where respective indices in this month have decreased, namely: “Clothing and Footwear” by 1.05%, “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.88%, “Transport” by 0.74%, “Food and Beverages” by 0.54%, “Communication” by 0.31%, and  “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 0.02%. An increase had shown on and “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 2.02%, followed by “Restaurants and Hotels” by 0.54%, “Recreation and Culture” by 0.36%, and “Health” by 0.15%. “Tobacco” and “Education” groups had remained flat at the last month’s price level. Table (1) show the monthly and annual Comparison for CPI July 2019, and Graphs (1),(2) show the movement of monthly CPIs of “Food and Beverages” and “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas” during  between 2018 and  2019. 

A comparison of the CPI, July 2019 with the CPI, July 2018 (Annual Change), a decrease has been recorded in the general index (CPI), by 0.63%. This [Y-o-Y] price decrease is primary due to the decreasing prices seen in the five groups, namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 12.00%, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 2.58%, “Transport” by 0.38%, “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.11%, and “Health” by 0.08%. An increase, has been shown in price levels in seven groups namely: “Tobacco” by 127.19%, “Education” by 9.25%, “Clothing and Footwear” by 4.67%, “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 2.57%. “Communication” by 1.26%, Restaurants and Hotels” by 1.16%. and “Food and Beverages” by 0.58%. Graph (3) shows a monthly and an annual change in CPI during July 2018 to July 2019. 

The CPI of July , 2019 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stands at 109.09  points showing  a decrease of 0.19% when compared to the index of June 2019, and a 0.08% when compared to the CPI of July, 2018. Table (2) presents CPI excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” and Graph (4) shows the annual percentage change of CPI with and without Housing component.

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