The Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics (MDPS) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of March 2015. The CPI of March, 2015 is estimated at 103.8 showing drop of 0.1%, when compared to CPI of February  2015. However, comparing to the CPI of March, 2014 estimated at 102.4, there has been a rise [Y-o-Y] of 1.4% compared to March 2014 .   In the new CPI,  the  Classification of Individual Consumption  According to Purpose (CIOCOP) has been used, which divides the prices basket to twelve main groups,  starting with “Food and  beverages” group, and  to ending up with  “Miscellaneous goods and Services” group. More than 1100 number of commodities and services have been covered in all the groups.      A M-o-M analysis of CPI [March, 2105 against March, 2014 indices] shows that there are four main groups where respective indices have risen namely: “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas”  group  is up by 0.4%,  “Clothing and footwear” group by 0.3%, “Furniture and household Equipment” and “Restaurants and Hotels” groups by 0.2% each. A decline in prices is noticed in three other groups namely: “Recreation and Culture” group by 0.8%, “Miscellaneous goods and services” by 0.6% and “Food and beverages” group by 0.1%. The remaining five groups: “Tobacco products”, “Health”, “Communication”, “Transportation”, “Education” have maintained the last month’s price level. Figures (4) and (5) show the movement of monthly CPIs of “Food and Beverages” and “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas” Comparing the CPI of March 2015 with the CPI of March, 2014 points a rise in the general index (annual inflation) by 1.4%. This price surge is primarily affected by the increasing prices in the seven groups namely: “Tobacco products” by 14.1%, “Education” by 11.1%, “Transport”  by 6.1%, “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas”  by 4.1%, “Furniture and Household Equipment”  by 1.1%, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 0.6%  and “Health” by 0.4%.  However, there has been a decrease in price levels in four other groups namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 7.8%, “Communications” by 1.9%, and “Miscellaneous goods and Services” by 0.6%, and  “Clothing and footwear”  by 0.1%.  “Food and Beverages” group has been the only exception, where there is no annual change in the price index. Figure (1) shows the monthly and annual comparison for CPI of March 2015.  The CPI of March, 2015 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas”  group stands at 102.3, showing a decrease of 0.1% compared to the index of February 2015 and an increase of 0.7% in comparison to the CPI of March, 2014. Table (2) presents CPI excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas” and figure (3) shows the Monthly percentage change of CPI  with and without Rental component. For more information, Click here More detailed data on CPI is available on the ministry’s website: www.mdps.gov.qa,  and  QALAM: www.qalm.gov.qa