Saudi Arabia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 3.4% in January, compared to the same period a year ago, and from 3.3% in December 2022, mainly driven by higher prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and food and beverages, official data showed Wednesday.
“Actual rents for housing increased by 7.7% in January 2023, reflecting the increase in rents for apartments by 19.3%,” the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said in a report, adding that housing prices were the main driver of higher inflation last month due to their high relative weightage in the Saudi consumer basket.
“The monthly CPI was affected by the increase in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels prices by 0.8% (compared to December 2022), as a result of the increase in actual rentals for housing by 1%,” the authority added.
The statistics authority noted that food prices increased by 4.3%. Meat and poultry prices soared by 6.1%, and milk products and eggs surged by 15.8%. Similarly, transport costs rose by 3.8%, mainly due to a 4.9% increase in motor car prices.
While the prices of restaurants and hotels moved up by 6.5%, the cost of education rose by 3.1% in January, mainly due to an increase in pre-primary and primary education fees to the tune of 4.6%.
