Food prices continue to increase in Antigua and Barbuda

The content originally appeared on: Antigua News Room

The All-Items Index increased 6.2% for the twelve months ending July 2024.

The index for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased 4.9% over twelve months and was responsible for 15.0% of the overall All Items Index increase.

The Food Index rose 4.0% and contributed 74.0% to the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increase.

Six of the nine food subcategories rose over the twelve months.

The indexes for Vegetables, Bread and Cereals, Meat and Meat Products and Food Products N.E.C combined contributed 88.7% of the Food index increase. The Index for Vegetable while increasing 4.4% over the year had the largest contribution of 25.6% on Food inflation.

The change was primarily impacted by increases in the average prices of tomatoes, lettuce, canned vegetables and cabbage. The index for Bread and Cereals had the second largest impact on Food inflation. The index rose 6.1% and contributed 24.5% to Food inflation.

The Index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 6.6%.

It was affected by increases in the indexes for Miscellaneous Goods and Services, Communication and Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics and the sub index Purchae of Vehicles. The index for Miscellaneous Goods and Services rose 22.1% while the index for Purchase of Vehicles increased by 20.9%.

The index for Communication rose 16.5% followed by the index for Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics (+12.8%).

Month-to-Month Price Changes

The Monthly Consumer Price Index increased by 0.4% for the month ending July 2024.

The Food index declined 1.2% in July 2024. Seven of nine food group indexes fell over the one-month period. The largest decrease was for the index for Oil and Fats which declined by 4.7%. The remaining index decreases ranged from Sugar, Jams Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery (-1.2%) to Meat and Meat Products (-2.5%).

The index for Food Products N.E.C increased 1.8%.

The index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 0.3% in July following a 0.3% decrease the previous month. The index for Transport Services and Purchase of Vehicle rose 13.7% and 3.8%, respectively.This attributed to the increase in the index of Transport of 5.5%. Other increases included the index for Alcoholic beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics (1.0%), Recreation and Culture (0.4%), and Health (0.4%). The remaining indexes had mixed results in either declining or unchanged.

Methodology

What is the consumer price index (CPI) measuring and how is it done?

The All Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the main measure of what is commonly called inflation, or headline inflation. It measures the change in prices, on average, from month to month, and from year to year of the goods and services bought by most households.

Prices are collected monthly and quarterly from supermarkets and other suppliers of goods and services. The pattern of household expenditure on these goods and services is derived from a regular household budget (or expenditure) survey (HBS). The prices and spending patterns (known as weights) are then combined to calculate the price indices for groups of goods and services and for the All Items index. These indices are based on expenditure patterns in 2006.

The All Items (or overall) index, with all of its twelve (12) component indices, is published each month.

For a detailed account of the methodology used in calculating the CPI, please call the Statistics Division.

Copies of the CPI for Jul 2024 can be accessed on the Division’s official website www.statistics.gov.ag

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