St John’s Antigua, March 1, 2021. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Jan 2021
Year-on-Year Analysis
The All Items Consumer Price Index for the month ending January 2021 increased 1.6%.
The Food index remained unchanged over the last twelve months. Changes in the major supermarket food group indexes were mixed in January. The largest increase was the Milk, Cheese and Eggs index which rose 2.9% as the sub index for Preserved Milk and Other Milk Products increased 5.6%. The smallest increase recorded were the indexes for Oils and Fats and Food Products Not Elsewhere Classified index which increased 1.2% over the last twelve months.
In contrast to the overall increases three food groups declined and one remained unchanged over the last year. The largest decrease was the index for Fish and Seafood which recorded a decline of 2.8%. The index for Sugars, Jams, Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery fell 1.7 while the index for Meat and Meat Products fell 1.4%. These changes offset the increases which resulted in an unchanged Food index.
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy increased 3.2% over the past twelve months. Among the indexes which increased were Transport (+9.1%), Communication (+8.6), Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (+7.6 %) and Health (+2.9%). Among the declines were Recreation and Culture (-10.3%), Clothing and Footwear (-3.5) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (-2.5%).
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The monthly Consumer Price Index decreased 0.1% in January 2021.
The Food index declined 1.0% over the month of December as seven of the major supermarket food groups indexes declined. The index for Fruit fell 3.5% in January, its largest monthly decline since March 2020. The index for Vegetables fell 2.2% after rising the previous month. The index for Meat and Meat Products declined 1.9% after increasing 2.1% in December.
The index for Bread and Cereals rose 1.5% in January continuing a two months increase. The index for Oils and Fats rose 0.6% over the one month span.
The Index for All Items Less Food and Energy increased by 0.2% resulting from its components having mixed results. The indexes for Communication rose 8.6%, Clothing and Footwear( +2.9%) and Transport (+1.8%). In contrast, the Recreation and Culture index in January declined 14.0%. The index for Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance fell 7.2%. The Index for Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics also fell.
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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.