Consumer prices maintained the downward trend during the first quarter of 2016 as reflected by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that dropped by 3.57% y-o-y in March 2016.
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), the CPI decreased from 98.32 points in March 2015 to 94.81 points by the end of March 2016. The depreciation of the euro, the local and global economic slowdown and the great decline in oil prices were the primary reasons behind this deflation.
In terms of CPI’s components, food and non-alcoholic beverages (20.6% of CPI) declined by 1.84% y-o-y in March 2016. Moreover, transportation (13.1% of CPI) and water, electricity, gas & other fuels (11.9% of CPI), witnessed yearly drops of 8.24% and 18.15%, respectively. The other sub-indices that waned were health (7.8% of CPI) and clothing (5.4% of CPI), posting a 3.06% and 1.90% y-o-y declines, respectively. Also, communication (4.6% of CPI) posted a 0.31% downtick from Q1 2015’s level.
However, the education sub-index, constituting 5.9% of the CPI, augmented annually by 1.49% in March 2016. Furthermore, restaurants & hotels prices (2.6% of CPI) went up by 3.00% y-o-y in Q1 2016. In addition, the actual rent sub-index for households (old and new rent), with a stake of 3.4% of the CPI, increased by an annual 1.93%.
Monthly Changes in Deflation Level in Lebanon (Y-o-Y)
SOURCE: CAS