Mirroring the global trends, retail inflation in Qatar showed an upward trend in May 2022 both on annualised and monthly basis, according to the official data.
The country's cost of living, based on consumer price index inflation, shot up 5.18% year-on-year and 1.34% month-on-month in May 2022, said the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority.
The increase in the country's general price level comes amidst an overall inflationary pressure in the global economy, which prompted the central banks to tighten their monetary policies, stoking fears of economic slowdown.
Qatar's core inflation grew faster than the general CPI inflation both on a yearly and monthly basis respectively in May 2022. The core inflation (excluding housing and utilities) rose 5.21% and 1.53% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in the review period.
A recent Qatar Economic Outlook suggested that Qatar is slated to see imported and domestic inflationary pressures due to the rise in prices of basic commodities in global markets caused by the bottlenecks in commodity supply chains as well as the negative repercussions of expansionary financial and monetary policies.
The index of recreation and culture, which has an 11.13% weight in the CPI basket, zoomed 30.79% and 7.3% on an annualised and monthly basis respectively in May this year.
The food and beverages group, with a weight of 13.45% in the CPI basket, witnessed 5.85% and 3.3% growth year-on-year and month-on-month respectively this May.
The index of housing, water, electricity and other fuels – with a weight of 21.17% in the CPI basket – saw 5.03% and 0.49% expansion on yearly and monthly basis respectively in May 2022.
The miscellaneous goods and services, with a 5.65% weight, saw its index jump 3.51% on an annualised basis but fell 0.79% month-on-month in the review period.
The index of transport, which has a 14.59% weight, was seen rising 1.34% year-on-year but was unchanged on a monthly basis in May 2022.
The sector has the direct linkage to the dismantling of the administered prices in petrol and diesel as part of the government measures to lower the subsidies.
In May 2022, the retail price of super, premium gasoline and diesel witnessed a 16.67%, 11.11% and 24.248% surge year-on-year respectively. On a monthly basis, the price of super, premium and diesel was flat.
In the case of furniture and household equipment, which has a 7.88% weight in the CPI basket, the index rose 1.34% and 0.03% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in May this year.
The restaurants and hotels group, with a 6.61% weight, saw its index expand 0.58% and 0.38% year-on-year and month-on-month this May.
Education, with a 5.78% weight, saw its index jump 0.48% on a yearly basis but was unchanged month-on-month in May 2022.
However, the index of health, which has a 2.65% weight, was seen plummeting 3.14% on a yearly basis, although it was unchanged month-on-month in May 2022.
Communication, which carries a 5.23% weight, saw its group index shrank 0.64% on an annualised basis. It was flat month-on-month respectively in the review period.
The index of clothing and footwear, which has a 5.58% weight in the CPI basket, was seen declining 0.22% year-on-year but was up 0.11% month-on-month this May.
The tobacco index, which has a 0.28% weight, was unchanged on yearly and monthly basis in the review period.
