Doha: Qatar’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) witnessed a marginal increase of 0.06 percent in April compared to previous month (March 2021), reaching at 97.24 points.
When compared on annual basis, the consumer prices in Qatar (as per the general CPI index) in April have also increased by 1.02 percent compared to the CPI of the same month in 2020, latest data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) show.
A month-on-month analysis of the CPI for April 2021 compared with CPI of March 2021, showed that there were five main groups, where respective indices during this month have increased, namely:
“Recreation and Culture” by 1.56 percent, followed by “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 1.35 percent, “Transport” by 0.96 percent, “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.24 percent, and “Education” by 0.05 percent.
However, a decrease has been recorded in the following groups: “Food and Beverages” by 1.19 percent, followed by “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.97 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 0.52 percent, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 0.13 percent, and “Communication” by 0.10 percent. “Tobacco” and “Health” had remained flat at the last month’s price level.
A comparison of the CPI of April 2021 with the CPI of April 2020 (Annual Change), showed an increase has been recorded in the general index (CPI), by 1.02 percent.
This y-o-y price increase primary due to the prices rise in six groups namely: “Transport” by 13.40 percent, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 6.55 percent, “Communication” by 4.03 percent, “Education” by 3.79 percent, “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 3.57 percent, and “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 3.29 percent.
While a decrease has been shown in price levels of five groups namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 7.83 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 5.81 percent, “Clothing and Footwear” by 5.75 percent, “Food and Beverages” by 0.40 percent, and “Health” by 0.07 percent. No change was recorded on “Tobacco”.
The CPI of April 2021, excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stood at 99.65 points showing an increase of 0.20 percent, when compared to the index of March 2021, and an increase of 2.80 percent when compared to the CPI of April 2020.
