Saudi Arabia’s inflation accelerated to 5.7% in May 2021, according to recent data by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).
The authority attributed the growth in inflation to an increase in the value-added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15%, effective July 1, 2020.
The cost-of-living index for May rose to 104.09 points, according to the base year 2018, compared to 98.50 points the year before.
|
Saudi Inflation Rate |
|
|
Month |
Inflation rate |
|
January 2020 |
0.7% |
|
February |
1.2% |
|
March |
1.5% |
|
April |
1.3% |
|
May |
1.1% |
|
June |
0.5% |
|
July |
6.1% |
|
August |
6.2% |
|
September |
5.7% |
|
October |
5.8% |
|
November |
5.8% |
|
December |
5.3% |
|
January 2021 |
5.7% |
|
February |
5.2% |
|
March |
4.9% |
|
April |
5.3% |
|
May |
5.7% |
The increase in consumer price index (CPI) was mainly driven by a rise of 7.4% year-on-year (YoY) in the average prices of food and beverages, affected by higher food prices by 7.3%, and a 19.3% increase in the transport sector as vehicle prices grew by 8.7%.
Communication and tobacco sectors rose by 13.5% and 13.3%, respectively, as the former was impacted by 15.4% growth in phone and fax service prices and the latter was affected by a 14.3% increase in cigarette prices.
Meanwhile, education sector declined by 9.1% as the pre-primary and primary education dropped by 14.3%, while intermediate and secondary education fell by 11%.
Housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels sector was also down 2.6%, due to a 3.8% fall in housing rents.
The table below illustrates the change in the CPI comparison YoY in May 2021:
|
CPI YoY Comparison - May 2021 |
|
|
Main Groups |
Variation (%) |
|
Transport |
+19.3% |
|
Communication |
+13.5% |
|
Tobacco |
+13.3% |
|
Restaurants & Hotels |
+8.2% |
|
Furniture, Household Equipment, and Household Maintenance |
+8.1% |
|
Food & Beverages |
+7.4% |
|
Clothes & Footwear |
+5.9% |
|
Miscellaneous Goods & Services |
+5.1% |
|
Recreation & Culture |
+4.9% |
|
Healthcare |
+3.2% |
|
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels |
(2.6%) |
|
Education |
(9.1%) |
The CPI reflects price changes of a fixed basket of goods and services that includes 490 items. The items were chosen based on the results of the Household Expenditure and Income Survey conducted in 2018.
Prices are collected through point-of-sale (POS) field visit.
|
Relative Importance of Major Sectors |
|
|
Expenditure Groups (2018) |
(%) |
|
General Index |
100.0% |
|
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels |
25.5% |
|
Food & Beverages |
18.8% |
|
Transport |
13.0% |
|
Miscellaneous Goods & Services |
12.6% |
|
Furniture, Household Equipment, and Household Maintenance |
6.7% |
|
Communication |
5.6% |
|
Restaurants & Hotels |
5.6% |
|
Clothes & Footwear |
4.2% |
|
Recreation & Culture |
3.1% |
|
Education |
2.9% |
|
Healthcare |
1.4% |
|
Tobacco |
0.6% |
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