Inflation for the month went up 0.7%

Jamaica’s annual inflation, from July 2021-July 2022 has jumped into double digits, registering an increase of 10.2 per cent as measured by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

Inflation went up 0.7 per cent for July 2022.

This increase was due mainly to a 1.4 per cent jump in the index for the heavily weighted ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the basket of goods and services, which measures inflation.

INCREASED WATER AND SEWAGE RATES

All classes within the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division recorded increases with the classes: ‘Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses’ (3.0%), ‘Cereals and cereal products’ (1.7%), ‘Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals’ (0.8%) and ‘Fish and Seafood’ (0.7%), having the strongest overall impact on the division.

Also contributing to the upward movement in the CPI for July was an increase of 0.3 per cent in the index for the division ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’. This was mainly a result of increased water and sewage rates.

Other notable divisional increases were recorded in the index for the ‘Transport’ division (0.4%), influenced mainly by higher petrol prices and increased toll rates for the East-West leg of Highway 2000 and in the index for the ‘Personal Care, Social Protection and Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ division (0.8%), due primarily to higher prices for personal care products and services.

The point-to-point inflation rate (July 2021 – July 2022) of 10.2 per cent was influenced mainly by the point-to-point inflation rate for the divisions: ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (12.6%), ‘Transport’ (15.2%) and ‘Restaurant and Accommodation Services’ (19.1%).

The fiscal year-to-date inflation rate was 1.9 per cent. The CPI measures changes in the general level of prices for consumer goods and services purchased by private households.