Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2011. CPI for the month of December, 2011 reached 109.6, showing an increase of 0.1% when compared to the CPI of November, 2011; and an increase of 2.1%, when compared to CPI of December, 2010..   
   
A comparison of the CPI of December, 2011 with CPI of November, 2011, shows a minor overall rise of 0.1% increase. While the “Food, Beverages, Tobacco” group recorded the highest increase of 1.0%, the “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” group showed a decline of 1.3%. During this period, the “Furniture, Textiles & Home Appliances” group increased by 0.6%; and “Garments and Footwear” group increased by 0.3%.  On the other hand, the “Entertainment, Recreation and Culture”; “Transport and Communication” groups showed decline of 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.
 Prices in the “Rent, Fuel and Energy”; and “Medical care and Medical services” groups remained stable between November and December, 2011. A year-on-year analysis, comparing CPI of December, 2011 with CPI of December, 2010, shows increases ranging between 2.8% and 6.4% in all the major groups, with the exception of “Rent, Fuel and Energy”, which registered a drop of 5.6%.  The increases were recorded in the “Furniture, Textiles & Home Appliances” group: 6.7% followed by “Garments and Footwear”: 5.6%, “Transport and Communication”: 5.4%, “Entertainment, Recreation and Culture”: 5.2%, “Food, beverages and tobacco”: 4.2% and “Medical Care and Medical services”: 2.8%.  A CPI exclusive of the Rent group has also been calculated. After eliminating the effect of rent, the overall index shows an increase of 0.1% compared to CPI of November 2011; and an increase of 5.1 % when compared to the month of December, 2010.

For more details: Click here - tables: