RIYADH — The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Saudi Arabia for the month of February has increased by 1.6%، the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) clarified. The GASTAT indicators showed that the index of the Consumer Price Index increased during the month of February 2022, by 1.6 percent compared to the index of February in 2021, noting that it is also higher than last January' index, which was at that time 1.2%. The rise in gasoline prices is considered the biggest influence on the inflation increase for the month of February 2022 compared to the same month of 2021, GASTAT said. Transportation prices increased by +4.3%, as it was affected by the increase in gasoline prices by 26.7%, while the CPI in the Kingdom for the month of February was relatively stable compared to January 2022, recording an increase of 0.3%. Food and beverage prices increased by +2.4%, the authority confirmed, noting that the food and beverage recorded an increase in the price, due to the increase in food prices by 2.6%, which in turn was affected by the increase in vegetable prices by 9.7%. The GASTAT said that the monthly inflation index was affected by the increase in food and beverages by 0.4%, which in turn was affected by the increase in food prices by 0.5%. The increase in housing rental prices by 0.3% affected the prices of the housing section, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which recorded an increase of 0.2%. While the home establishment and equipment department recorded 0.7%, the miscellaneous personal goods and services department by 0.4%, clothing and footwear department by 0.1%. Also the prices of the tobacco section decreased by 0.1%, and the communications section decreased by 0.1%.
