Prices of consumer goods in the GCC rise by 3.7pc

MUSCAT: Price level for consumer goods and services (excluding housing) in the GCC countries rose by 3.7 per cent during December 2018, according to figures released today by GCC-Stat, the Statistical Centre for Cooperation Council of the Arab Countries of the Gulf. The biggest increases were for tobacco 10.3 per cent, transport 6.2 per cent, restaurant and hotels by 6 per cent, food 3.8 per cent, furnishings 3.6 per cent, health 2.8 per cent, recreation 2.1 per cent, education 2 per cent, clothing and footwear 1.9 per cent, communication 1.7 per cent, and miscellaneous services 1 per cent.

In terms of contributions to the 3.7 per cent annual increase, food and transport contributed 1 percentage points each, restaurant and hotels 0.5 percentage points, furnishings 0.4 percentage points, education 0.2 percentage points, “tobacco”, “clothing and footwear”, “health”, “communication”, “recreation” and “miscellaneous” 0.1 percentage points each. Over the 12 months to December 2018, the contributions to overall GCC consumer price change were almost exclusively from Saudi Arabia and UAE, with 4.2 and 1.0 percentage points of the total 3.7 per cent. Kuwait contributed 0.1 percentage points, while Bahrain, the Sultanate and Qatar all contributed less than 0.1 per cent this month.

GCC overall consumer price have decreased slightly in December 2018 compared with the previous month by 0.2 per cent. The most significant price decreases during December 2018 were in transport group by 0.7 per cent, food 0.5 per cent, clothing - 0.2 per cent, and communication - 0.1 per cent. In contrast, recreation prices increased by 1 per cent, tobacco 0.2 per cent, “health”, “education”, and “restaurant and hotels” 0.1 per cent each, while there is no change of prices in “furnishings”, and “miscellaneous” compared with the previous month. — ONA