Doha: Qatar’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) witnessed an increase of 1.34 percent in May compared to previous month (April 2022), reaching at 103.13 points. When compared on annual basis, the consumer prices in Qatar (as per the general CPI index) in May have also increased by 5.18 percent compared to the CPI of the corresponding month last year (May 2021), latest data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
A month-on-month (M-o-M) analysis of CPI for May 2022 compared with CPI of April 2022, showed that there was one main group, where the respective index during this month has decreased, namely the “Other Goods and Services” group by 0.79 percent.
At the same time, an increase was recorded in the following six groups: “Recreation and Culture” by 7.30%, followed by “Food and Beverages” by 3.30%, “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels” by 0.49%, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 0.33%, “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.11%, and a slight rise in “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.03%. Additionally, groups of Tobacco, Health, Transportation, Communications, and Education have remained flat at last month’s price level (April 2022).
A comparison of the CPI of May 2022 with the CPI of May 2021 (Annual Change), showed an increase has been recorded in the general index (CPI), by 5.18 percent.
This year-on-year (Y-o-Y) price increase was primarily due to the prices rising in eight groups namely: “Entertainment and Culture” by 30.79 percent, followed by “Food and Beverages” by 5.85 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels” by 5.03 percent, “Other Goods and Services” by 3.51 percent, “Transportation” by 1.63 percent, “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 1.34 percent, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 0.58 percent, and “Education” by 0.48 percent.
While a decrease has been shown in price levels in “Health” by 3.14 percent, “Communications” by 0.64 percent, and “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.22 percent. No change was recorded on “Tobacco”.
The CPI of May 2022 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels” group stood at 106.11 points, recording an increase of 1.53 percent M-o-M, and an increase of 5.21 percent when compared to the CPI of May 2021.
