St John’s Antigua, June 30, 2021. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for May 2021
Year-on-Year Analysis
The All Items index rose 0.4% for the twelve months ending May 2021. The Food index increased 0.6% over the last twelve months. Five of nine supermarket food group indexes increased. The indexes for Oils and Fats, Bread and Cereals, and Food Products N.E.C were the only three indexes to rise more than 5.0%. The index for Oil and Fats increased 5.1 and the index Bread and Cereals increased 5.5% respectively. The Food Products N.E.C index increased by 6.7%. The increases were mostly due to increases in cooking oil, pasta, and prepared sauces.
In contrast to these increases, the index for Vegetables declined in May falling 3.4% and the index for Fish and Seafood fell 1.8%. The index for Sugars, Jams, Honey, Chocolate, and Confectionery had the smallest decrease of 1.4%. The index for Milk, Cheese, and Eggs was unchanged.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy increased 1.5% over the past twelve months. The index for Communication increased by 7.2% while the index for Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance rose (6.0). The Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics index increased 4.6% over the period. The Transport index increase 0.7%, however the index for Transport Services declined 4.1% .
The Energy index remained at (- 8.8%) since the reduction of the fuel variation rate from 0.60 cents to 0.50 cents.
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The Monthly Consumer Price Index declined -0.2% in May 2021 after been unchanged in April.
The Food index decreased 0.4% in May with six major food categories decreasing. The index for Milk, Cheese, and Eggs having the largest decrease of 3.4%. Four other categories had decreases ranging from -0.5 to -0.9%. The May decreases were mostly due to the declines in the indexes for Fruits, Meat and Meat Products and Vegetables. The index for Frozen, Preserved or Processed Fruit declined by 5.8%. The index for Pork fell 10.3% and the index for Fresh and Chilled Vegetables decreasing by 2.6%.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy declined 0.4% after been unchanged in April. The Transport Services index was the index contributing to the decline. The Transport services index declined 2.3% as a result of average price reduction in airline fares.
Contrary to the decline the index for Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics increased by 1.5%. Eight of the twelve major categories were unchanged.
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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.