St John’s Antigua, September 27, 2023. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Jul 2023.
Year-on-Year Analysis
The All Items Index increased 5.0% for the 12-months ending July 2023; significantly larger than the 2.8% increase for the 12-months ending June 2023.
The indexes for Communication, Restaurants and Hotels and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels accounted for 58.8% of the overall inflation. The index for Communication had the largest contribution of 24.5% with average prices increases recorded for cell phones and internet rates. The index for Restaurants and Hotels accounted 22.9% of the increase. The increase was driven by a 38.0% increase in the average price of meals away from home. The index for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels accounted for 11.4%. Imputed rent was the largest contributor to the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels index of 8.7%.
The index for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages accounted for 29.3% of the overall inflation rate. The Food index had the largest allocation of 26.7%. The index for Food increased 8.3% while the index for Non-Alcohilc Beverages increased by 6.2%. The indexes for Vegetables and Bread and Cereals accounted for 47.0% of the Food index. The Index for Vegetables increased 9.5% while the index for Bread ad Cereals increased 10.4%.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 6.0% over the last 12-months. The Energy index declined 10.1% during the period. The decrease was attributed to the decrease of fuel at the pump. The Fuel variation rate remained unchanged at 0.50 cents.
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The Monthly Consumer Price Index increased by 0.8% for the month ending July 2023.
The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 0.4% with the index for Food increasing by 0.4% over the month. Five of the nine posted increases over the one month period. Notable increases were the indexes for Fish and Seafood (+3.8%), Milk, Cheese and Eggs (+3.4%).The remaining increases were Bread and Cereals (+1.0%) to Meat and Meat Products (+0.3%).
In contrast, the index for Fruit recorded the largest decline of 7.7%. The remaining indexes changes range from Oils and Fats (-0.1%) to Food Products N.E.C. (-0.6%).
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy increased 0.9% in July. The increase was largely attributed to increases in the indexes for Restaurants and Hotels (+9.3%), Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (+1.9%) Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (+1.8%) and Miscellaneous Good and Services (+1.8%). Several indexes declined in July, led by the Health index which fell 4.6% over the month. The index for Recreation and Culture declined 2.5% while the index for Alcholic Beverages,Tobacco and Narcotics fell 2.2%. The Energy index remained unchanged over the one period.
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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 this and previous CPI publications can be accessed in the analysis section of the Consumer Price Index Subjects page.
July 2023 Monthly CPI Technical Note:
Technical Note for July 2023 Consumer Price Index
July 2023 Monthly CPI Publication: