DECEMBER QUARTER 2009
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December quarter 2009 was 118.7, up by 4.3% over December quarter 2008 and it continued to increase at a slower rate of 0.2% over September quarter of this year. Similarly the “underlying CPI” increased at a rate of 7.0% over December quarter of 2008 and and it continued to increase at a slower rate of 1.7% over September quarter 2009.
The most significant contributions to the movement in the CPI are highlighted as follows:
Miscellaneous group recorded the highest increase of
5.1% in this quarter. The increase is mainly driven by the rise in
prices of our daily newspaper and perfumed local oil up by 100.0% & 20.0% respectively.
Tobacco & Alcohol and Apparel groups showed significant increases of 2.5% over the quarter:
Beer
and White Wine were the major items that caused the rise in the Tobacco & Alcohol group.
Beer recorded an upward trend of
8.0% and white wine went up by 4.1%. In the Apparel group, some items in the
Clothing Subgroup pushed
the percentage change of prices to 4.0%.
To offset the increases Transport group registered a negative
movement of 4.7%. This is mainly caused by the decline in the
prices of overseas airfares down by 18.2%.
Detailed tables are available here. Or Contact the Office for more information