Data published by the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) revealed that average consumer prices declined by a mere 0.78% y-o-y by the end of 2016, as the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) contracted to 96.27 points by December 2016, from 97.03 points in the same period last year.
The steepest decline of 8.35% y-o-y was recorded for average prices of Water, electricity, gas & other fuels (11.9% of CPI) by December 2016. Average prices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages, which constitute 20.6% of CPI, also dropped by 1.2% y-o-y over the same period. Similarly, Transportation (13.1% of CPI), Health (7.8% of CPI) and Communication average prices fell by 3.62%, 2.04%, and 0.23% y-o-y, respectively. However, as tourism activity picked up especially during the December festive season, Clothing & Footwear (5.4% of CPI), Restaurants &Hotels (2.6% of CPI), as well as Recreation, Amusement, & Culture (2.3% of CPI) all registered average yearly advances of 4.97%, 2.6%, and 1.94%, respectively.
As for the Actual rent sub-index for households (old and new rent), which constitutes 3.4% of CPI, it grew by an average of 4.41% y-o-y, while the Education sub-index that grasps 5.9% of CPI rose by 1.99% y-o-y on average by December 2016.
Regionally, overall prices in the North of Lebanon recorded a monthly rise of 1.47% in December, followed by the South’s prices which gained 0.69%. Also, the Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, and Nabatieh observed growths in their monthly CPI’s with respective increases of 0.65%, 0.58%, and 0.47% from November’s levels. Beirut’s overall prices marginally rose by 0.07%.
Monthly Changes in Lebanon’s Inflation Levels (y-o-y)
SOURCE: CAS