The Central Bureau of Statistics released figures this week for the month of May. One of the categories was the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the period from May 2023 to May 2024. This shows that in the last twelve months, the CPI rose by 2.6%, with nine out of twelve sectors registering price increases.
The sectors with the greatest impact on the CPI registered increases in “Communication” (18.0%), “Housing” (3.4%), “Other goods and services” (2.5%), “Restaurants and hotels” (5.9%), “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” (2.4%), and “Education” (24.8%), causing effects of 1.35, 0.86, 0.30, 0.28, 0.28, and 0.24 percentage points (ppt), respectively.
Increases in the remaining sectors contributed to a 0.10 ppt effect on the CPI from May 2023 to May 2024. These increases were partially offset by primarily a decrease in the index of the “Transport” sector (-3.5%), contributing a -0.51 ppt effect. Decreases in the other sectors together contributed a -0.28 ppt effect on the CPI from May 2023 to May 2024.
The increase in the “Communication” sector was due to a rise of 21.1% in the “Telephone and fax services” category, causing a 1.49 ppt effect. The increase in the “Housing” sector was mainly due to a 14.8% rise in the “Maintenance and repair of housing” category, causing a 0.76 ppt effect. The increase in the “Other goods and services” sector was due to rises in the “Other personal articles” (14.0%) and “Personal care” (3.7%) categories, causing effects of 0.15 ppt each.
The increase in the “Restaurants and hotels” sector was mainly due to a rise in the “Food away from home” category (4.5%), causing a 0.21 ppt effect. The increase in the “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” sector was mainly due to a rise in the “Food” category (2.2%), causing a 0.23 ppt effect. The increase in the “Education” sector was due to increases of 42.9% and 32.0% in the “Preschool and basic education” and “Secondary education” categories, causing effects of 0.10 and 0.14 ppt, respectively.
The decrease in the “Transport” sector was mainly due to an 11.8% decrease in the “Vehicle purchase” category, causing a -0.61 ppt effect.
Consumer Basket
In the last year, 56.6% of products in the CPI consumption basket experienced price increases, resulting in a 4.63 ppt effect, while 36.3% showed price decreases, contributing a -1.99 ppt effect, and for the remaining 7.1%, there was no price change.
The “Goods” index (0.8%) registered an increase, causing a 0.47 ppt effect, while the “Services” index registered a 5.3% increase, causing a 2.17 ppt effect.
Minimum Living Expenses
In the last twelve months, the minimum living expenses for a household consisting of two adults and two children (aged 0-15 years) rose by AWG 138, from AWG 5,354 in May 2023 to AWG 5,492 in May 2024.
This increase was mainly due to rises in the “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” (AWG 54) and “Housing” (AWG 54) sectors.
Changes in Oil, Utilities, Gasoline, and Diesel Prices
The average price per barrel of oil saw an increase of US$ 8.55 (11.9%), from US$ 71.86 in May 2023 to US$ 80.41 in May 2024.
The Energy index rose by 0.3% in the last year, causing a 0.05 ppt effect. The “Gasoline” (0.9%) and “Diesel” (3.0%) indices recorded increases, causing effects of 0.04 and 0.01 ppt on the CPI, respectively.
The “Electricity” and “Water” indices showed no change. The remaining 404 goods and services together experienced a 3.1% increase, resulting in a combined effect of 2.58 ppt.
Changes in Food and Catering Service Prices
In the last twelve months, the “Food & catering service” index rose by 3.0%. The “Food at home” index saw a 2.4% increase, where eight out of eleven indices in the “Food at home” groups rose during this period.
The “Juices, jams, and other sweets” index saw a 10.6% increase, the largest rise among the “Food at home” groups. Significant increases were also recorded in the indices of “Other food products” (5.1%), “Non-alcoholic beverages” (4.2%), “Fruits” (3.8%), “Milk, cheese, and eggs” (3.3%), and “Vegetables” (3.3%).
The largest decrease during this period was recorded in the “Fish and other seafood” index (-3.9%). The “Food away from home” index saw a 4.5% increase in the last twelve months.
