Inflation in Saudi Arabia rises to 5.2% in February 2021

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Saudi Arabia’s inflation accelerated to 5.2% in February 2021, according to recent data by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The authority attributed the growth in inflation to an increase in value-added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% from July 1, 2020.

The cost-of-living index for February rose to 103.87 points, according to the base year 2018, compared to 98.69 points the year before.

The increase consumer price index (CPI) was mainly driven by a rise of 11.2% year-on-year (YoY) in the average prices of food and beverages and a 9.8% increase in the transport sector, as vehicle prices grew by 9.9%.

Telecommunications and tobacco sectors rose by 13.2% each, as the former was impacted by 15.4% growth in phone and fax service prices and the latter was affected by a 13.5% increase in cigarette prices.

Meanwhile, education sector declined by 9.5% as the pre-primary and primary education dropped by 14%, while intermediate and secondary education fell by 12.2%.

Housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuel sector was also down 2.6%, due a 3.7% fall in housing rents.

The table below illustrates the change in the CPI comparison YoY in February 2021:

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.

Prices are collected through point of sale (POS) field visits.

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