CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
1st Quarter 2021
Highlights
1. The Consumer
Price Index, which stood at 106.1 in December 2020, registered a net increase
of 2.4 points (or 2.3%) to reach 108.5 in March 2021.
2. The main contributors for the net increase in CPI from
December 2020 to March 2021 were:
- – higher prices of vegetables (+1.0 point), cooking oil (+0.1 point), culinary herbs (+0.1 point), traders’ rice (+0.1 point), and some other food products (+0.3 point);
- – higher prices of washing materials and softeners (+0.1 point);
- – higher doctor’s fees (+0.1 point);
- – higher prices of motor vehicles (+0.1 point);
- – higher prices of goods for personal care (+0.1 point), and;
- – higher prices of some other goods and services (+0.4 point);
3. The
headline inflation rate for the twelve months ending March 2021 worked out to
2.2%, compared to 1.2% for the twelve months ending March 2020.
4. The headline inflation rate excluding
“Alcoholic beverages and tobacco” for the twelve months ending March 2021
worked out to 2.3%, compared to 1.2% for the twelve months ending March 2020.