Qatar CPI rises over 4 percent year-on-year in January: PSA

The cost of living in Qatar based on the consumer price index (CPI) in January 2022 saw a slight decrease from that in the previous month.
According to the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), Qatar’s CPI — a key inflation indicator — dropped 0.97 percent to 101.15 points in January when compared with that of December, 2021.
Compared with the CPI of January 2021, the latest figure shows an increase of 4.16 percent, the PSA report said.
The report attributed the month-on-month drop in CPI to decreased prices in seven inflation components — recreation and culture by 7.73 percent, restaurants and hotels by 3.47 percent, clothing and footwear by 2.63 percent, health by 2.51 percent, furniture and household equipment by 0.33 percent, transport” by 0.28 percent and education by 0.02 percent.
Five main components showed increase in January — food and beverages by 1.91 percent, communication by 0.70 percent, housing, water, electricity and other fuel by 0.60 percent and miscellaneous goods and services by 0.41 percent. The tobacco group remained flat.
On an year-on-year analysis, the index’s climb was mostly driven by price rises in eight components — recreation and culture by 26.42 percent, food and beverages by 7.23 percent, transport by 6.58 percent, miscellaneous goods and services by 2.55 percent, clothing and footwear by 1.99 percent, communication by 0.57 percent, education by 0.48 percent and and furniture and household equipment by 0.34 percent.
At the same time, this comparison also reveals price falls in three other groups — health by 3.09 percent, restaurants and hotels by 2.7 percent and housing, water, electricity and other fuel by 1.31 percent. No change was recorded on the tobacco group year-on-year.
The CPI of January 2022, excluding housing, water, electricity and other fuel group, stands at 104.6 points, showing a decrease of 1.31 percent when compared with that of December 2021, and an increase of 5.49 percent when compared with the CPI of January 2021.