RIYADH — The consumer price index for the month of June 2022 increased by 2.3 percent compared to the same period last year, and it came higher than the increase in the previous month that stood at 2.2 percent. According to the data, published by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) on Thursday, the increase in the consumer price index (inflation rate) on an annual basis is attributed to the increase in food and beverage prices by 4.4 percent and transportation prices by 2.5 percent. GASTAT report stated that the prices of food and beverage segment rose by 4.4 percent, affected by the increase in food prices by 4.7 percent, which was affected by the increase in meat prices by 4.5 percent. The rise in this segment had a significant impact on the rise in annual inflation in June 2022. The prices in the transport segment recorded an increase of 2.5 percent and this was affected by the increase in car prices by 3.3 percent. The segment of miscellaneous personal goods and services recorded an increase of 2.4 percent and this was mainly affected by the increase in the rent of wedding halls by 18.5 percent. The education segment also posted an increase of 6.2 percent, affected mainly by the increase in the prices of intermediate and secondary education by 13.8 percent. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index for the month of June recorded a slight increase of 0.2 percent while compared to May 2022, affected by an increase in the segment of food and beverage by 0.4 percent. This in turn was affected by an increase in meat prices by 1.3 percent. The consumer price index in the Kingdom registered an increase of 2.2 percent during the month of May 2022 while compared to the same month last year. At that time, the main driver of consumer price index inflation was the rise in food and beverage prices by 4.2 percent and transportation prices by 4 percent.
