Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index (CPI), which measures the inflation rate of a country, went up by 1.1% in November this year, compared to the same month in 2020, according to official data on Wednesday.
An increase of 5.7% in transportation prices was a key driver in the inflation registered in November, due to a rise of 47.9% in gasoline prices.
Higher food prices by 1.7% caused the food and beverages group to post an increase of 1.6%, which contributed to the inflation rate in November, the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) said.
Education prices also grew by 4.8%; restaurants and hotels prices added 1.8%; while recreation and culture prices rose by 2.3%.
Meanwhile, clothing and footwear prices plunged by 1.8%.
The Kingdom also recorded a decline of 1.6% in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels prices.
Saudi Arabia’s month-on-month (MoM) CPI
On a monthly basis, the Kingdom’s CPI was also higher than October, when it signalled 0.8%. However, prices stabled MoM in November compared to October this year. Consumer prices rose slightly by 0.2%, according to GaStat.
The marginal monthly rise in consumer prices was mainly attributed to a rise of 1.4% in personal goods and services.
Transport prices went up slightly by 0.3% MoM in November.
Furnishings, household equipment, and maintenance prices in Saudi Arabia edged down 0.4%, while the prices of clothing and footwear went down by 0.3%.
Wholesale Prices in November
The country’s wholesale price index (WPI) soared by 12.5% in November this year compared to the same month in 2020.
GaStat attributed the higher wholesale prices to a 21.6% increase in the prices of other transportable goods.
On a monthly basis, Saudi Arabia’s WPI in November was 0.4% higher than October when it recorded 11.9%.
