Saudi annual inflation rises to 3.0% in February

In February 2023, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 3.0% compared to February 2022, The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said on Wednesday.

The main driver of CPI inflation in February was the higher prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels by 7.0%, and food and beverages by 3.1%,

Rents main driver of inflation in February 2023

Actual rents for housing increased by 8.3% in February 2023, reflecting the increase in rents for apartments by 21.4%. Prices for Rents were the main driver of the inflation rate in February 2023 due to their high relative importance in the Saudi consumer basket (with a weight of 20.9%).

Food prices increased by 3.1%, in particular meat and poultry prices (+4.1%), milk products and eggs (14.1%).

Transport prices increased by 2.7%, mainly due to the increase in purchase of motor cars prices by 3.2%.

Restaurants and hotels prices increased by 6.5%, due to the increase in catering services prices by 6.6%.

Recreation & Culture prices increased by 0.9%, mainly resulting from the increase in package holidays by 7.1%.

Education prices increased by 3.1%, mainly resulting from the increase in pre-primary and primary education fees by 4.6%.

In contrast, personal goods and services prices decreased by 0.6%, due to the decrease in domestic workers recruitment fees (-7.2%).

Clothing and footwear prices decreased by 2.2%, due to the decrease in garments prices (-3.6%).

Prices decrease by 0.1% compared to January 2023

Compared to January 2023, consumer prices decrease slightly by 0.1%.

The monthly CPI was affected by the decrease in food and beverages prices by 0.6%, as a result of the decrease in food by 0.7%.

Transport prices decrease by 0.5%, mainly due to the decrease in motor cars prices by 0.9%, furnishings, household equipment & maintenance prices decreased by 0.5%, communication decreased by 0.3%, and clothing and footwear decreased by 0.3%, recreation & culture decreased by 0.1%.

Contrarily, prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels increased by 0.6%, just as well as personal goods and services (0.1%).

On the other hand, prices of education, tobacco, restaurants, hotels, and health did not show any significant change in February 2023.