GASTAT: Saudi annual inflation rises to 1.6% in February 2022

In February 2022, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 1.6% compared to February 2021, higher than in January 2022 (1.2%), the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) announced on Monday.

The rise of the CPI resulted mainly from higher prices of transport (+4.3%) and food and beverages (+2.4%)

Transport prices increased by 4.3%, mainly due to the increase in gasoline prices by 26.7%. Transport prices were the main driver of the inflation rate in February 2022 due to their high relative importance in the Saudi consumer basket (with a weight of 13.0%).

Food and beverages prices increased by 2.4%, mainly due to the increase in food prices by 2.6%, in particular, vegetable prices by 9.7%.

Furniture, household equipment and household maintenance prices increased by 1.3% as a result of a 1.5% rise in furniture, carpets and other floor coverings.

Education prices increased by 6.3%, mainly resulting from an increase in secondary education prices 15.3%. Restaurants and hotels prices increased by 2.4% due to an increase of 1.9% in catering services prices. Recreation and culture prices increased by 1.8%, due to an increase in recreational and culture service prices of 4.3%.

In contrast, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels prices decreased by 0.2% due to decreasing rents for housing by 0.3%, as well as lower clothing prices (-0.8%).