October inflation rises more than 1%

MUSCAT: A rise of 1.22 per cent in inflation was registered in the Sultanate during October 2017 compared to the same month of 2016, according to the latest data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) on consumer price indices.

The rate increased by 0.1 per cent compared to September 2017. The increase in the price index during October 2017 compared to the same month of 2016 is attributed to the rise in prices of major groups, such as housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 1.5 per cent, food and non-alcoholic beverages by 0.74 per cent and transport by 1.78 per cent.

The prices of education group increased by 4.90 per cent, restaurants and hotels by 0.24 per cent, miscellaneous goods and services by 1.63 per cent, culture and entertainment by 0.37 per cent, health group by 0.41 per cent and tobacco by 1.83 per cent.

On the other hand, prices of clothing and footwear group decreased by 0.10 per cent and communications group by 0.17 per cent during October 2017 compared to the same month of the previous year.

At the governorate level, North Al Batinah experienced the highest rate of inflation by 2.27 per cent, followed by the Governorates of North and South A’Sharqiyah by 1.06 per cent, Dhofar by 1.04 per cent, Al Dakhiliyah by 0.99 per cent, Al Dahirah by 0.89 per cent, Muscat by 0.86 per cent and Al Buraimi by 0.23 per cent.

Compared with September, the consumer price index rose by 0.10 per cent. Prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 0.05 per cent, transport by 1 per cent, clothing and footwear by 0.04 per cent, education by 4.90 per cent, restaurants and hotels by 0.32 per cent, and miscellaneous goods and services by 0.08 per cent.

In contrast, the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased by 0.87 per cent, furnishings household equipment and routine household maintenance by 0.04 per cent while prices of the group of recreation and culture stabilised, according to the NCSI data.