Today, Minister for the Cabinet Office the Hon. Wayne L. Furbert, JP, MP, released the April 2021 Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.

The Minister explained, “In April 2021 consumers paid 0.9 % more than they did in April 2020 for a basket of goods and services. The Transport & Foreign Travel sector was the largest contributor to the increase in the CPI (+2.7 %). The major driver in this sector was the average cost of airfare which rose 12.9 %. The Health & Personal Care and Education, Recreation, Entertainment & Reading sectors also impacted strongly on the annual rate of inflation, as price shifts in these sectors measured 2.0 % and 1.6 %, respectively. Between March 2021 and April 2021 the average cost of goods and services increased 0.3 percentage points.”

Additional areas of note between March 2021 and April 2021 are as follows:

Ø  A 4.9 % increase in the fuel adjustment clause caused the Fuel & Power sector to rise 1.5 %.

Ø  The Transport & Foreign Travel sector advanced 0.7 % for the month. The rise was due to an increase in the average cost of airfares (+5.3 %).

Ø  The Household Goods, Services & Supplies sector moved up 0.3 %. On average, consumers paid 11.7 % more for bedroom furniture.

*Note: In summary, each month, the Government measures the annual rate of inflation and the monthly rate of inflation – Annual are changes from same month last year, and monthly are the changes from month to month. The April 2021 Consumer Price Index is available online at https://www.gov.bm/bermuda-business-statistics.