St John’s Antigua, October 2, 2026. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Sep 2026
Year-on-Year Analysis
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 7.0 % for the twelve months ending September 2026. The September inflation rate is driven by non-food inflation, alongside declining aggregate food prices. The main inflation drivers are the indexes for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (+12.6%), Transport (+12.0%) and Communication (+23.1%).
The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index declined by 1.0%, while the Food Index declined by 1.5%. The decline in the Index for Vegetables and Meat and Meat Products contributed largely to the downward movement of the Food Index. The Index for Vegetables declined 10.4%, with all three subcategories declining by an average of 11.1%. The Index for Fresh or Chilled Potatoes represented the largest decline of 13.0%. This was followed by a 10.8% decline in the Index for Frozen, Preserved or Processed Vegetables. The index for Meats and Meat Products fell by 3.8%. Within the group, the Index for Pork stands out with the largest decline of 15.8%, followed by the index for Other Meats and Edible Offal (-8.9%).
The All-Items Less Food and Energy index increased by 7.5%. The Index for Transport Services increased by 25.5% which was attributed to a 29.7% increase in the Index for Passenger Transport by Air. The Index for Operations of Personal Transport Equipment increased by 6.1%. This increase was attributed to a rise in the cost of gasoline at the pump from $14.50 to $16.50. The Index for Actual Rentals for Housing rose 8.9%.
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The monthly Consumer Price Index increased 1.1% in September 2026, however, the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index fell 1.1% over the
period.
The Food index declined by 1.6% in August. The index for Fish and Seafood declined 13.8% which was attributed to a decline in both of its subcategories: Fresh Chilled or Frozen Fish and Seafood (-18.2%) and Preserved or Processed Fish and Seafood (-11.7%). Similarly, the index for Vegetables fell 4.5% and recorded a decline in two of the three subcategories. The Index for Fresh and Chilled Vegetables fell 5.7% while the Index for Frozen, Preserved or Processed Vegetables declined by 4.4%. The relatively large weight of both categories had an important downward movement in food inflation.
The index for Energy rose 4.6% in September 2026. The increase was influenced by 13.8% increase in the increase in cost of gasoline at the pump
from $14.50 to $16.50.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 1.6% as a result of increases in the indexes for Transport Services (+4.0%), mainly due to an
increase in the index for Passenger Transport by Air(+ 4.6%) and the index for Actual Rentals for Housing (+3.5%).
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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 National Bureau of Statistics.