Qatar inflation jumps 1.2% in Jan

February 12, 2017

Rising transport and education costs pushed Qatar's annual inflation to 1.2 percent in January, according to a report released by the Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics (MDPS) on Sunday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) that reached 108.3 points in January 2017, however, remained stable month-on-month (m-o-m) basis mainly on falling prices of clothing, food and miscellaneous goods and services, the MDPS said.

The transport sector saw its group index surge 4.7 percent year-on-year in January 2017 due to rise in prices of petrol and diesel. The transport sector index also showed a monthly increase of 1.6 percent.

The education sector reported a 3 percent increase in January on an annual basis, while its index treaded a flat course m-o-m.

The recreation and culture segment saw its index soar 2.8 percent and 0.7 percent on y-o-y and m-o-m respectively.

The index of miscellaneous goods and services witnessed a 1.7 percent surge in January 2017 against the same month last year, even as its index shrank 1.3 percent against the previous month.

The furniture and household equipment sector recorded a 1.3 percent expansion in January 2017 on annual basis; whereas its index was down 0.2 percent compared to December last year.

The housing, water, electricity and other fuels group registered a 0.6 percent gain in its index in January 2017 compared to the same month last year and it was down 0.4 percent m-o-m.

Registering the biggest fall on annual basis, the index of restaurants and hotels shrank 2.7 percent in January 2017 compared to the same month last year. The index was, however, up 0.3 percent when compared with the previous month.

The food and beverage sector saw its group index decline 1.9 percent in January 2017 on annual basis. On the m-o-m basis also the index registered a fall 1.2 percent.

The clothing and footwear segment saw its group index decline 1.3 percent y-o-y, while it fell 1.7 percent on a monthly basis.

The health sector witnessed a fall of 0.2 percent y-o-y in January 2017, while the index gained 0.5 percent m-o-m.

The communication segment saw its group index fall by a meager 0.1 percent on annual basis and remained flat when compared with last month.

The tobacco segment stood unchanged both annually and monthly in January this year.

The CPI of January, 2017 excluding housing, water, electricity and other fuel group stands at 106.3 points, showing an increase by 0.1 percent when compared to the index of December 2016, and a 1.3 percent when compared to the CPI of January 2016.

FocusEconomics has said in its latest report that Qatar's inflation will gradually accelerate on the back of strengthening economic activity.

Its consensus forecast panellists expect Qatar's inflation to average 2.7 percent in 2017 and 3.1 percent in 2018.

In one of its earlier reports, Qatar National Bank (QNB) has predicted that Qatar's inflation will rise up to 4 percent in 2017 as a result of strong domestic demand.