Lebanon’s average consumer prices rose by 3.26% year-on-year (y-o-y) in H1 2019 compared to an annual uptick of 6% recorded in H1 2018 according to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS). The rise in prices during H1 2019 mainly came on the back of annual upticks registered across all components of the consumer price index (CPI), except Transportation and Health.
The breakdown of the CPI revealed that the average costs of “Housing and utilities” (including: water, electricity, gas and other fuels) which grasped a combined 28.4% of the CPI, climbed by a yearly 3.10% by June 2019. In fact, average “Owner-occupied” rental costs (constituting 13.6% of the category) grew by an annual 2.69%. In turn, the average prices of “water, electricity, gas, and other fuels” (11.8% of housing & utilities) recorded a yearly uptick of 3.53% over the same period.
Moreoveor, the average prices for “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” (20% of the CPI) and “Education” costs (6.6% of CPI) registered yearly upticks of 5.56% and 5.15%, respectively, in H1 2019. In turn, average prices of “Clothing and Footwear” (5.2% of the CPI) also rose by 14.09% y-o-y in the first half of the year.
However, the average consumer prices of “Health” (7.7% of the CPI) and “Transportation” (13.1% of the CPI) recorded the respective downticks of 0.61% and 0.90% y-o-y. The latter most probably slipped as a result of the retreat in average oil prices which slipped by a yearly 3.77% to $65.78/barrel by June 2019.
Average Inflation Rate in H1
Source: CAS