Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation soared to 3.3% in December from 2.9% in November. Government data released on Sunday. The price increase again was mainly driven by housing costs.
Prices rose 0.3 percent month-on-month in December. That compares with a 0.1 percent monthly increase in November. said the Saudi General Statistics Office.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels It weighed 25.5 percent of the basket of consumer goods, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier and up 0.9 percent compared to November.
The increase was attributed to a 1.1 percent increase in real housing rents, the statistics agency said.
Food and beverage prices, the main driver of inflation for most of 2022, fell 0.1 percent month-on-month. Although it is still up 4.2% compared to December 2021.
“The 2022 Consumer Price Index increased by 2.5 percent compared to 2021, primarily influenced by a 3.7 percent increase in food and beverage prices and a 4.1 percent increase in transportation prices, as a result of the weighting of the index,” the Office of General Statistics said. said in a separate report.
The residential category rose 1.8 percent in 2022, “largely due to a 2.0 percent increase in real housing rents,” officials said.
In its fiscal 2023 budget, the Treasury said it expects inflation to average 2.6 percent at the end of 2022.
