- CPI at 103.13 points in May 2022, with a Y-o-Y increase of 5.18%.
- CPI declined in one group within the main components, while 5 groups remained unchanged.
- CPI rose in 6 groups led by "Entertainment and Culture" and "Food and Beverage".
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May 2022 increased by 1.34% compared to April 2022, recording a level of 103.13 points, with an increase of 5.18% compared to the corresponding month (May) of the preceding year.
The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has released its monthly report on changes in the CPI as well as its main components, which include 12 groups.
By calculating the CPI for May 2022, after excluding the “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels” group, it reached 106.11 points, recording an increase of 1.53% compared to April 2022, and an increase of 5.21% over the corresponding month in 2021.
M-o-M Change
In terms of month-over-month (M-o-M) change compared to April 2022, the index of one group within the CPI components; namely the "Other Goods and Services" group, declined by 0.79%.
At the same time, the indices of 6 groups increased; as the “Recreation and Culture” group increased by 7.30%, followed by the “Food and Beverages” by 3.30%, then the “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels” by 0.49%, the “Restaurants and Hotels” group by 0.33%, the “Clothing and Footwear” group by 0.11%, and a slight rise in the “Furniture and Household Equipment” group by 0.03%. Additionally, the groups of Tobacco, Health, Transportation, Communications, and Education have remained flat at the last month’s price level; April 2022.
Y-o-Y Change
When comparing May 2022 with the corresponding month in 2021 (Y-o-Y change), it becomes clear that there has been an increase in the overall CPI by 5.18%, due to the increasing prices seen in 8 groups, namely: the “Entertainment and Culture” group by 30.79%, followed by “Food and Beverages” by 5.85%, then “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels” by 5.03%, “Other Goods and Services” by 3.51%, the “Transportation” by 1.63%, the “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 1.34%, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 0.58%, and then the “Education” by 0.48%.
As for the Y-o-Y declines, they occurred in the "Health" group by 3.14%, the "Communications" group by 0.64%, and then the "Clothing and Footwear" group by 0.22%. However, there was no change in the "Tobacco" group.
Consumer Price Index: is a statistical indicator that measures the percentage of change that occurs in the prices of goods and services reflecting the consumption of consumers in the society during a time period, called the comparison period attributed to another time period known as the reference period. This index is important since it is an economic indicator which is used by economists and decision-makers.
The CPI is composed of a group of goods and services. Prices’ data are collected on regular basis (weekly – monthly – quarterly) according to the nature of commodity or service.
It is worth mentioning that the CPI has been rebased from 2013 to 2018 as of January 2020.
