Abu Dhabi consumer prices rise by 4% in September
Consumer prices in Abu Dhabi rose 4 per cent in September from a year earlier on higher transportation and clothing costs. The acceleration comes amid an expectation that inflation will reach 3.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of this year, according to the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi.
Prices in September last year rose 0.4 per cent from the same month a year earlier, Scad said in a report yesterday. Meanwhile, prices last month fell 0.4 per cent compared with August.
Consumer prices for the first nine months of this year increased 3.7 per cent from a year earlier.
The centre did not provide comparative figures for the first nine months of 2017.
Prices for the transport sector in the emirate climbed 10.2 per cent in the first nine months of 2018, accounting for 38.2 per cent of the overall increase in Abu Dhabi’s consumer price index. It was followed by the clothing and footwear sector, which rose 19 per cent and contributed 25.2 per cent to the overall price increase.
Recreation and culture prices rose 13.7 per cent and contributed 15.2 per cent to an overall increase in the first nine months.
Meanwhile, prices in the housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel group fell 3.6 per cent and accounted for 33.3 per cent of the overall tempering of price increases.
Consumer prices, which peaked this year at 4.7 per cent in January when the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, introduced the 5 per cent VAT, are expected to taper as the levy is gradually absorbed into the economy.
The Central Bank of the UAE is projecting consumer prices for the country as a whole to moderate to 3.5 per cent in 2018 and 2.5 per cent next year.
The International Monetary Fund also expects prices to grow 3.5 per cent this year, up from 2 per cent last year.