Qatar's cost of living, based on consumer prices index (CPI), expanded 0.4% in May 2018 compared to the previous month, owing to higher expenses, particularly towards transportation, food, clothing, recreation and furniture, according to official data.
The CPI inflation was up 0.1% year-on-year in June this year as the country witnessed price increase in the seven sectors, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics data suggest.
The International Monetary Fund, in its latest Article IV consultation with Qatar, viewed that inflation is expected to peak at 3.9% in 2018 before easing to 2.2% in the medium term; while a BMI report suggest that Doha's inflation to average 2.6% this year.
Transport, which has 14.59% weightage, saw its group index vault 7.2% year-on-year and 1.1% on a monthly basis. The sector has the direct linkage to the dismantling of administered prices in petrol and diesel, which have witnessed sustained increase in the recent past as part of lessening the subsidies.
Food and beverages, which has a weightage of 12.58% in the CPI basket, witnessed 0.7% increase in its group index on a monthly basis, although it was unchanged on a yearly basis.
Recreation and culture, which have 12.68% weightage in the CPI basket, saw a 2.3% surge month-on-month this June; while it shrank 2.3% year-on-year.
Miscellaneous goods and services, which have 5.69% weightage, saw its index increase 0.2% and 0.5% on monthly and yearly basis respectively in May this year.
Furniture and household equipment, which have 7.7% weightage in the CPI basket, saw its index rose 0.1% month-on-month and 1% year-on-year this June.
However, the index of clothing and footwear, which carry 5.11% weightage, plunged 2.6% year-on-year in June 2018 and it was up 0.5% on a yearly basis.
Housing, water, electricity and other fuels — with a weightage of 21.89% in the CPI basket — saw 0.02% year-on-year dip in its index in June 2018 and a steep 4.3% on a yearly basis.
The CPI of June 2018, excluding “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” showed an increase of 0.5% and 1.4% on monthly and yearly basis respectively.
Education, with 5.75% weightage, saw its index unchanged from the previous month's level but on a yearly basis, it showed a 0.9% gain.
Similarly, the index of restaurants and hotels, which have 6.08% weightage, grew 0.9% on a yearly basis whereas it was flat on a monthly in June 2018.
The index of health, which carries 1.79% weightage, treaded a flat path month-on-month in June this year; whereas it soared 3.4% on a yearly basis.
Communication, which carries 5.87% weightage, saw its group index shrink 1% year-on-year in June 2018 but remained flat month-on-month.
Tobacco, which has 0.27% weightage, stood unchanged both annually and monthly in June 2018.