St John’s Antigua, June 27, 2023. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Apr 2023.
Year-on-Year Analysis
The All Items Index increased 7.7% for the twelve months ending April 2023; this was the largest twelve-month increase since the December 2022 increase of 4.5%. Rising prices for airlines fares, cellular phones, meals outside the home and clothing and footwear contributed the increase in the All-Items Index.
The index for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased 10.1% with the Food Index increasing 10.7% over the last twelve months. All nine food-subcategories rose over the twelve months. The increase in the Food Index was driven by increases Bread and Cereals (+10.8%), Meat and Meat Products (+10.1%) and Vegetables (7.8%).
The indexes for Food Products N.E.C and Sugar, Jams, Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery both rose 19.4% over the past months. The remaining major supermarket food groups posted increases ranging from Fruit (+4.0%) to Oils and Fats (15.2%).
Core inflation (All Items Less Food and Energy index) rose 8.5% over the past twelve months. The components within the category accounts for 81.2% of the total increase in the All Items index. The increase was driven primarily by five indexes Transport Services (+45.7%), Communication (+14.4%), Clothing and Footwear (+12.2%), Furnishing Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (+4.6%) and Restaurants and Hotels (+19.7%).
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The Monthly Consumer Price Index increased by 4.0% for the month ending March 2023.
The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index increased by 1.4% with the index for Food increasing by 1.7% over the month. The index for Non-Alcoholic Beverages declined by 0.6% in April after a 0.4% increase the previous month.
The index for Fish and Seafood rose 3.7% over the month while the index for Sugars, Jams, Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery increased by 2.5%. The index for Vegetables increased by 2.4% following a decline of 1.2% in March.
In contrast, the Fruit index fell by 0.3% following of the 2.2% increase from the previous month.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 5.0%, a larger increase than the 0.4% in March. The index for Transport Services specically airline fares increased by 44.7%. Average price increases were recorded for the four destinations (Barbados, St. Maarten, New York, Miami and United Kingdom). Other notable increases over the month include Communication (+9.7%), Restaurant and Hotels (+7.0%) and Health (5.5%).
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Methodology
What is the consumer price index (CPI) measuring and how is it done?
The All Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the main measure of what is commonly called inflation, or headline inflation. It measures the change in prices, on average, from month to month, and from year to year of the goods and services bought by most households.
Prices are collected monthly and quarterly from supermarkets and other suppliers of goods and services. The pattern of household expenditure on these goods and services is derived from a regular household budget (or expenditure) survey (HBS). The prices and spending patterns (known as weights) are then combined to calculate the price indices for groups of goods and services and for the All Items index. These indices are based on expenditure patterns in 2006.
The All Items (or overall) index, with all of its twelve (12) component indices, is published each month. For a detailed account of the methodology used in calculating the CPI, please call the Statistics Division.
Copies of the CPI for Apr 2023 can be accessed on the Division’s official website www.statistics.gov.ag.
Apr 2023 Monthly CPI Publication: