Qatar's producers' price index (PPI), which captures the price pressure felt by the producers of goods and services, witnessed a declining trend both on an annual and monthly basis this March, according to official estimates.
The 16.88% plunge in the country's PPI on an annualised basis has been on account of the hydrocarbons and certain manufacturing businesses such as chemicals, basic metals and recorded media, according to the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PPI was down 2.56% month-on-month in March 2023 owing to refined petroleum products and extraction of natural resources.
The PSA had released a new PPI series in late 2015. With a base of 2013, it draws on an updated sampling frame and new weights. The previous sampling frame dates from 2006, when the Qatari economy was much smaller than today and the range of products made domestically much narrower.
The mining PPI, which carries the maximum weight of 82.46%, saw a 16.3% plunge on a yearly basis in March 2023 as the average price of crude petroleum and natural gas was seen plummeting 16.31% and other mining and quarrying by 1.89%.
The mining PPI decreased 2.94 month-on-month this March as the average selling price of crude petroleum and natural gas declined 2.94%, even as that of stone, sand, and clay was flat.
The manufacturing sector PPI, which has a weight of 15.85% in the basket, tanked 22.03% on a yearly basis in March 2023 due to a 28.58% plunge in the average price of chemicals and chemical-related products, 18.58% in refined petroleum products and 12.93% in basic metals.
Nevertheless, there was a 5.52% increase in the average price of food products, 4.7% in rubber and plastics products, 2.8% in printing and reproduction of recorded media, 1.2% in beverages and 0.49% in cement and other non-metallic mineral products.
The manufacturing PPI fell 0.76% month-on-month year in March 2023 on account of a 2.39% slump in the average price of refined petroleum products, basic metals, 0.95% in chemicals and chemical-related products, 0.34% in food products, 0.29% in cement and other non-metallic mineral products, and 0.05% in beverages.
However, there was a 2.76% surge in the average price of rubber and plastics products and 1.62% in basic metals.
The index of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply saw an 11.76% and 1.02% increase on a yearly and monthly basis respectively this March.
The index of water supply was seen expanding 8.64% year-on-year but shrank 1.78% month-on-month in March 2023.