- 0.20% Monthly increase on CPI of March 2023.
- 4.01% annual increase on CPI of March 2023, compared with March 2022.
The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of March 2023. The CPI of March 2023 reached to 105.55 points showing an increase by 0.20% when compared to CPI of February 2023. Compared to CPI of March 2022, [Y-o-Y basis], an increase of 4.01% has been recorded in the general index (CPI) of this month.
When comparing the main components of CPI for the month of March 2023, with the previous month February 2023 (Monthly change), it is found that, there was a decrease in five groups, while four groups were increased, and three groups remained unchanged.
The groups showed increase as a follow: “Clothing and Footwear” by 1.56%, followed by “Recreation and Culture” by 1.44%, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 1.09%, “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 0.75%, and “Transport” by 0.53%. a decrease has been recorded in “Restaurants and Hotels” by 1.90%, followed by “Education” by 1.58%, “Food and Beverages” by 1.08%, and “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.22%. “Tobacco”, “Health”, “Communication” had remained flat at the last month’s price level.
A comparison of the CPI, March 2023 with the CPI, March 2022 (Annual Change), an increase has been recorded in the general index (CPI), by 4.01%. This [Y-o-Y] price increase primary due to the prices rising in eight groups namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 13.63%, followed by “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 8.65%, “Clothing and Footwear” by 4.90%, “Education” by 2.61%, “Transport” by 2.50%, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 2.25%, “Health” by 1.62%, and “Food and “Beverages” by 1.06%. A decrease has been shown in price levels in “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 0.34%, “Communication” by 4.84%, and “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.30%. No changes recorded on “Tobacco”.
The CPI of March 2023 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stands at 107.42 points recorded a decrease (almost stable) by 0.02% when compared to the index of February 2023. Compared with counterpart in 2022, the CPI of March index increased by 2.93%.
