Cost of living in Qatar edges up as CPI rises over 1% in January
THE cost of living in Qatar based on the consumer price index (CPI) in January saw a slight increase from that in the previous month.
According to the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), Qatar’s CPI — a key inflation indicator — edged up 1.23 percent to 97.11 points in January when compared with that of December, 2020. Still, this is lower than the index figure a year ago.
Compared with the CPI of January 2020, the latest figure shows a decline of 1.29 percent, the PSA report said. This index, which includes 12 main groups of consumer goods covering 737 commodities and services, use 2018 as the base year and is calculated from the results of the household income and expenditure survey 2017/2018.
The report attributed the month-on-month rise in CPI to increased prices in nine inflation components — transport by 4.12 percent; furniture and household equipment by 2.96 percent; communications by 2.01 percent; food and beverages by 1.44 percent; clothing and footwear by 1.36 percent; restaurants and hotels by 1.30 percent; education by 0.58 percent; miscellaneous goods and services by 0.43 percent, and entertainment and culture by 0.22 percent.
Four main components showed decrease in January — housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel by 0.83 percent, and health group by 0.79 percent. The tobacco group remained flat.
On an year-on-year analysis, the index’s decline was mostly driven by price falls in four components — entertainment and culture by 16.93percent; clothing and footwear by 6.88 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 5.49 percent, and health by 1.30 percent. At the same time, this comparison also reveals price rises in eight other groups — tobacco by 8.37 percent; transport by 6.11percent; education by 3.97percent; restaurants and hotels by 3.05 percent; communications by 3.01 percent; furniture and household equipment by 2.85 percent; miscellaneous goods and services by 2.81 percent, and food by 0.52 percent.
The CPI of January 2020 excluding housing, water, electricity and other fuel group stands at 99.16 points, showing an increase of 1.74 percent when compared with that of December 2020, and a decline of 0.21 percent when compared with the CPI of January 2020.
Qatar’s CPI — a key inflation indicator — edged up 1.23% to 97.11 points in January when compared with that of December