Saudi Arabia's annualized inflation accelerated to 4.2 percent in December, up from 4 percent in the previous month, data from the Central Department of Statistics & Information, or CDSI, showed Tuesday. The cost of living index in the kingdom, the Arab world's largest economy, stood at 125.2 points in December, up from 124.7 points in November and 120.1 points during the same period in 2008, according to CDSI. The index for rent, fuel and housing-related services rose 12 percent in December compared with the year earlier period, and inched up 0.7 percent compared with November 2009. For food and beverages, the index was up 1 percent year-on-year and 0.8 percent month-on-month. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said in October that the Kingdom could face inflationary pressures during the fourth quarter, mostly due to seasonal factors. But “all data show that the general trend indicates a continued decline in the inflation rate during the fourth quarter of 2009 according to current indexes and future forecasts at both the domestic and international levels,” SAMA added. CDSI said last month that inflation rate in the Kingdom averaged 4.4 percent in 2009. The rising demand for housing in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to become more acute in the coming decade due to population growth, is keeping inflation rates at four times historic averages despite the global recession. Economists expect the world's top oil exporter to see inflation ease in 2010. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports fell 11 percent to 8.8 billion Saudi riyals ($2.3 billion) in November from SAR9.8 billion in a year-earlier period, data from the Central Department of Statistics and Information, or CDSI, showed Tuesday. The Kingdom's imports in November also fell, dropping 39 percent to SR25.4 billion, compared with SR41.9 billion in the corresponding period in 2008, according to the CDSI data. Saudi's main non-oil exports during the period were plastics, petrochemicals and metals, with plastics products worth SR2.4 billion accounting for 28 percent of the total non-oil exports. The kingdom's main imports are electric appliances, transport vehicles and food products. The United Arab Emirates was the top importer of Saudi non-oil goods in November, followed by China, Qatar and Egypt, according to CDSI. The top exporter to the kingdom, the Arab world's largest economy, was the US, followed by China, Japan and Germany. Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports fell 1 percent to SR9.4 billion in October from SR9.5 billion a year earlier, while its imports fell 32 percent to SR27.5 billion during the same month.
