Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaica’s inflation rate for August 2023 went up 1.0 per cent in the All-Jamaica Consumer Price Index (CPI), resulting in the index moving to 132.2, up from 130.8 in the previous month of July.

The main contributor to this movement in the CPI, which measures changes in the general level of prices for consumer goods and services purchased by private households, was a 1.4 per cent rise in the index for the division ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’, the heaviest weighted division.

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), which measures Jamaica’s inflation says, “the increase in the division’s index was due largely to a 4.0 per cent rise in the index for the class ‘Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses’ due to higher prices for some market produce, namely: tomato, cabbage, Irish potato and yellow yam.”

The inflation rate for the month was also influenced by a 5.2 per cent increase in the index for the division ‘Information and Communication’, due to higher rates for mobile communication services. In addition there was a 0.8 per cent increase in the index for the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ division.

This was mainly due to higher electricity, water and sewage rates.

1% jump in transport

The index for the ‘Transport’ division rose by 1.0 per cent due to increased cost for petrol.  The point-to-point inflation rate for August 2022 to August 2023 was 6.8 per cent.

The main contributors were increases in the divisions: ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (10.9 per cent) and ‘Restaurants and Accommodations Services’ (12.0 per cent), ‘Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance’ (11.1%).Tempering these increases was a fall of 1.2% in the index for the ‘Transport’ division.