Prices of consumer goods, services in GCC register annual rise

Business Wednesday 22/May/2019 20:23 PM
By: Times News Service
Prices of consumer goods, services in GCC register annual rise

Muscat: The prices of consumer goods and services (excluding housing) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries increased by 0.1 per cent over the 12 months to March 2019, according to figures released yesterday by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council of the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat).
The biggest increases were for Tobacco 2.7 per cent, Education 1.7 per cent, Restaurant and Hotels 1.4 per cent, Furnishings 0.9 per cent, Clothing and Footwear 0.8 per cent, Food 0.7 per cent and Health 0.2 per cent.
In contrast, Transport decreased by -2.5 per cent, Recreation -0.6 per cent, Communication -0.5 per cent, and Miscellaneous -0.3 per cent.
In terms of contributions, Food group contributed 0.2 percentage points, Clothing and Footwear, Furnishings, Education and Restaurant and Hotels contributed 0.1 percentage points each.
In contrast, Transport group contributed -0.4 percentage points while the rest of the groups did not record any contribution this month.
In terms of contributions to overall GCC consumer price change over the 12 months to March 2019 Saudi Arabia and Kuwait contributed 0.1 percentage points each. In contrast UAE contributed -0.1 percentage points while the rest of the GCC countries did not record any contribution this month.
GCC overall consumer price have decreased slightly in March 2019 compared with the previous month by -0.1 per cent.
The most significant price decreases during March 2019 were in Recreation and Miscellaneous by -0.6 per cent each, Clothing and Footwear -0.4 per cent, Furnishings -0.3 per cent and Health -0.1 per cent. In contrast, Transport prices increased by 0.5 per cent while the rest of the groups did not record any changes this month.