Jump in inflation was mainly influenced by rise of 2.5 per cent in the heavily weighted ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division

Inflation in Jamaica went up by one per cent last month, with the All-Jamaica Consumer Price Index (CPI) increasing to  116.0, based on the latest data released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

The movement in the CPI was largely due to an increase of 2.5 per cent in the index for the heavily weighted ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division. The CPI measures changes in the general level of prices of consumer goods and services purchased by private households.

An increase of 0.3 per cent in the index for the division ‘Transport’ also contributed to the overall inflation rate.

However, the inflation rate was moderated by the 0.5 per cent decline in the index for the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ division.

For October, prices for some agricultural produce, especially vegetables, continued to increase, resulting in a 6.8 per cent increase in the index for the class ‘Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses’.

Main contributors for the increase

This was the main contributor to the increase in the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division’s index. The increase of 0.3 per cent in the index for the ‘Transport’ division was due mainly to higher petrol prices.

Conversely, the decline in the index for the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ division was due to improvements in the foreign exchange rate and a fall in fuel prices. These moderated the rate increase granted to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) in October 2021.

The point-to-point inflation rate (October 2020 – October 2021) was 8.5 per cent. This was influenced by the point-to-point inflation rates for the three heavily weighted divisions: ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (11.8 per cent), ‘Transport’ (13.5 per cent) and ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ (5.3 per cent).

The fiscal year-to-date inflation rate was 7.7 per cent, while the calendar year-to-date inflation rate was 8.2 per cent for the review period.