The country’s consumer price index rose 4.42 percent last March on an annual basis

The consumer price index in the country rose by 4.42 percent last March on an annual basis, compared to the same month of 2021, to reach 101.48 points, and a monthly increase of 0.58 percent compared to February 2022, according to the data of the Planning and Statistics Authority issued today.
This indicator, which measures inflation, includes 12 main groups of consumer goods, under which 737 goods and services fall, and is calculated on the basis of 2018 according to the results calculated from the data of the Household Income Expenditure Survey 2017-2018.
The annual rise in the index is due to the increase in the prices of eight groups, topped by entertainment and culture by 37.61 percent, followed by other goods and services by 5.17 percent, then food and beverages by 3.44 percent, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 2.25 percent, and transportation by 2.25 percent. 1.57 percent, education by 0.47 percent, furniture and household appliances by 0.43 percent, and communications by 0.31 percent.
The rest of the groups recorded slight decreases on an annual basis, amounting to 3.09 percent in the health group, 2.64 percent in the restaurants and hotels group, and 0.44 percent in the clothes and shoes group, while the tobacco group did not register any significant change.
With regard to the monthly change of the index compared to last February, the data indicates an increase in six groups, most notably the entertainment and culture group by 7.85 percent, then the housing, water, electricity, gas and other types of fuel group by 1.35%, and the group of other goods and services by 0.85 percent, And the transportation group by 0.41 percent, and the restaurants and hotels group by 0.20 percent, with a slight increase closer to stability for the furniture and household appliances group, which recorded 0.04 percent.
The food and beverage group decreased by 3.37 percent, and the clothing and footwear group by 2.50 percent, during the month of March… while the groups of tobacco, health, communications, and education did not register any change from the previous February.
By calculating the consumer index last March, after excluding the group of housing, water, electricity, gas and other types of fuel, it reached the point of 104.37, an increase of 0.41 percent, compared to the previous February, while it recorded an increase of 4.94 percent compared to March of the year 2021.