St John’s Antigua, October 18, 2023. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Aug 2023.
Year-on-Year Analysis
The All Items Index increased 6.6% for the twelve months ending August 2023; a larger increase than the 5.0% increase for the tewlve months ending in July 2023. The index for Transport was the largest contributor the All Items increase, accounting for 26.0% of the increase. Also contributing to the August annual increase was the advancement in the Communication index which rose for thirty-two consecutive month.
The index for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased 3.8% with the Food Index increasing 3.6% over the last twelve months. Price changes in the nine food indexes were split with six increase and three decreases. The index for Bread and Cereals rose by 9.1% and accounted for almost 40% of the food increase. The subcategory index of Other Cereals, Flour and Other Products increased 13.7% over the year. The index for Milk, Cheese and Egg accounted for the second largest contribution of 22.8%. The index advanced 10.4% over the twelve period.The index for Vegetables decrease 1.3% in August after increasing 9.5% in July. The decline was attributed to 11.7% decline in the index for Fresh or Chilled Potatoes. Another notable decrease was the index for Meats and Meat Product which also declined by 1.3%.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy index rose 8.6% over the past twelve months. The index for Transport Services rose 34.2%. Influencing the increase was index for Passenger Transport by Air which rose 39.5%. Other indexes with notable increases over the last year include Restaurants and Hotels (+30.8%),Communication (+13.1%),Clothing and Footwear (+8.0%), Miscellaneous Goods and Services (5.5%) and Furnishing Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (5.3%).
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The Monthly Consumer Price Index rose 1.4% in August 2023 after increasing 0.8% in the previous month.
The index for Food declined 1.6% in August. Seven of nine food groups posted decreases over the one month period. The index for Vegetables declined 5.3% in August as all three subcategories declined. The index for Frozen, Preserved or Processed Vegetables declined 6.6%, while the index for Fresh or Chilled Potatoes fell 5.4%. Also declining was the index for Fresh or Chilled Vegetables (-3.3%). Other notable food groups decreases include Fruit (-3.7%), Sugars, Jam, Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery (-1.3%) and Meat and Meat Products (-1.2%). In contrast, the index for Food Products N.E.C rose 2.2% and the index for Bread and Cereals increased 1.0%.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 2.4% in August after rising 0.9% in July. The index was largely driven by a 28.6% increase in the index for Transport Services. The index for Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics rose 0.9% after declining 2.2% the previous month. The indexes for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels declined 0.2%, while both the indexes for Miscellaneous Goods and Services and Furnishings, Household equipment and Routine Maintenance both declined 0.1% over the period. The remaining indexes remained unchanged.
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Methodology
MethodologyWhat 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 or email the Statistics Division.
Copies of this and previous CPI publications can be accessed in the analysis section of the Consumer Price Index Subjects page.
August 2023 Monthly CPI Publication: