RIYADH — The Consumer Price Index or inflation in Saudi Arabia recorded a decrease of 1.5 percent during the month of December 2023, compared to December 2022. The inflation registered a slight decrease of 0.2 percent in December compared to the previous month of November, which recorded a rate of 1.7 percent. According to the latest data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), there is a decrease in the prices of food and beverages by 0.3 percent, transport 0.4 percent, home furnishings and equipment 0.4 percent, clothing and shoes 0.3 percent, health segment 0.2 percent, communications 0.1 percent, and the entertainment and culture 0.1 percent. On the other hand, the prices of services and education, as well as tobacco products did not record any significant relative change in the month of December 2023. The monthly inflation index was affected by an increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other types of fuel by 0.7 percent, which in turn was affected by an increase in actual housing rental prices by 0.8 percent. The prices of both restaurants and hotels increased by 0.4 percent, and the miscellaneous personal goods and services section increased by 0.4 percent. The authority attributed the increase during the month of December 2023 compared to the month of December 2022 to the increase in actual housing rents in the Kingdom by 9.0 percent in the month of December 2023. It was affected by the increase in apartment rental prices by 12.1 percent, and the increase in this group had a significant impact on the rise in annual inflation for the month of December 2023 due to its large weight in the index, which amounts to 21 percent. Food and beverage prices also increased by 1.2 percent, affected by the increase in the prices of milk, milk products, and eggs by 4.1 percent. The restaurants and hotels segment also recorded an increase of 2.5 percent, affected by the increase in the prices of catering services by 2.2 percent. Entertainment and culture section recorded an increase of 1.0 percent, affected by the increase in the prices of holiday and tourism offers by 7.1 percent, and the education segment also recorded an increase of 0.8 percent, affected by the increase in middle and secondary education fees by 3.1 percent. The authority said that the prices of the home furnishing and equipment recorded a decrease of 3.2 percent, affected by a decrease in the prices of furniture, carpets and floor coverings by 4.9 percent and the prices of the clothing and shoes also decreased by 4.2 percent. This was affected by a decrease in the prices of ready-made clothing by 6.6 percent and prices of the transport decreased by 1.3 percent, affected by the decrease in vehicle purchase prices by 2.5 percent.
