Inflation in Saudi Arabia rises to 6.2% in August 2020

Saudi Arabia’s inflation accelerated to 6.2% in August 2020, according to recent data by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The authority said that the acceleration in consumer price inflation was due to an increase in value-added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% on July 1, which had a general impact on annual inflation.

The cost of living index for August rose to 104.2 points according to the base year 2018, compared to 98.2 points the year before.

GASTAT has adopted 2018 as the new base year as of February 2020.

The consumer price index (CPI) rise was mainly driven by a rise of 13.5% year-on-year (YoY) in the average prices of food and beverages, and an 8.2% increase in transport sector.

The average prices of food and beverages rose as food prices grew by 13.8%. In addition, meat and poultry, and vegetables prices rose by 17.3% and 17.8%, respectively.

Communication sector rose 9.6% on the back of a 10.8% increase in phone and fax services prices.

The CPI reflects price changes of a fixed basket of goods and services that includes 490 items. The items were chosen based on the results of the Household Expenditure and Income Survey conducted in 2018.

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