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Consumer Price Index (CPI) December-2022
St John’s Antigua, January 24, 2023. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Dec 2022
Year-on-Year Analysis
The All Items Index increased 9.2% for the twelve months ending December 2022.
The Food Index rose 12.1% over the last twelve months.
The index for Oils and Fats rose 27.5% with average price increases of Fresh Butter and Soya Oil contributing to these large increases.
The index for Sugars, Jams, Honey, Chocolate, and Confectionery rose 21.2% over the year.
The index for Sugar increased 27.8% over the same period while the index for Edible Ice Cream and Sorbet rose 16.3%.
The index for Food Products N.E.C rose by 19.8% and the index for Meat and Meat Products increased by 15.2%.
The remaining food groups posted changes ranging from -3.4% (Fruit) to 12.9% (Bread and Cereals).
The Index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 8.5%, a slightly larger increase than the 8.1% increase in November 2022.
The index was similarly affected as the November index. It was impacted by a larger increase in the the index for Transport Services which rose from 34.6% to 41.7%.
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The Monthly Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% for the month ending December 2022.
The Food Index increased by 1.1% in December 2022 following 0.8% in November. Six of the nine major supermarket food group indexes increased over the month.
The index for Sugars, Jams, Honey, Chocolate, and Confectionery rose 7.9% and the index for Sugar rose 16.6%.
The index for Fish and Seafood increased by 5.7% in December as both the indexes for Fresh Chilled or Frozen Fish Seafood and Preserved or Processed Fish and Seafood increased by 15.6% and 2.2% respectively.
The remaining food groups’ increases ranged from 0.4% (Bread and Cereals) to 2.5% (Vegetables).
In contrast, the Meat and Meat Products index fell 2.0% with the indexes for Poultry falling 6.0%, Lamb, Mutton, and Goat (-2.3)%, and Beef and Veal (-1.5%).
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy remains unchanged. The index for Miscellaneous Goods and Services rose 0.3%.
The index for Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance had a marginal increase of 0.1%. These increases were offset by a decline in the Transport index of -0.4%.
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 the CPI for Dec 2022 can be accessed on the Division’s official website www.statistics.gov.ag
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