Consumers paid 5.1 per cent more in September 2022 than they did a year ago for the basket of goods and services included in the Consumer Price Index [CPI].

The Ministry of Economy and Labour released the September 2022 CPI from the Department of Statistics.

“In summary, during September 2022, consumers paid 5.1 per cent more than they did a year ago for the basket of goods and services included in the CPI. This level of inflation increased 0.4 percentage points from the August 2022 annual inflation rate of 4.7 per cent.

“The Food sector was the largest contributor to the year-over-year change in the CPI, rising 10.6 per cent.  The major contributors to the annual increase in the sector were the average cost of fruit juices (+24.4 per cent), ice cream (+21.1 per cent), frozen entries (+20.9 per cent) and bread (+19.4 per cent). 

“The Transport & Foreign Travel sector influenced the twelve-month increase at 9.9 per cent.  On average, annual increases were reported in the price of overseas hotel accommodations (+55.1 per cent), airfares (+18.5 per cent), premium fuel (+5.5 per cent) and mixed fuel (+5.2 per cent).

“The Education, Recreation, Entertainment & Reading sector impacted the annual rate of inflation by 4.4 per cent. The average cost of tuition fees for local and overseas schools increased 2.6 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.  In addition, the cost of recreational lessons rose 2.2 per cent annually. Year-over-year, the Fuel and Power sector increased 15.2 per cent. Compared to September 2021, the fuel adjustment cost for 700 residential kilowatts hours of electricity rose 49.2 per cent. 

“Between August 2022 and September 2022, the average cost of goods and services in the CPI rose 0.5 per cent.

“Additional areas of note between August 2022 and September 2022 were as follows:

• The Food sector grew 1.3 per cent. Price changes were reported in the average cost of ice cream (+17.4 per cent), red grapes (+16.8 per cent) and lettuce (+12.8 per cent).
• The Education, Recreation, Entertainment & Reading sector rose 0.9 per cent. The average cost of local and overseas school tuition increased 2.6 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.   Additionally, the average cost of pet supplies and upkeep rose 2.0 per cent.
• Following the 0.9 per cent decline in August, the Transport & Foreign Travel sector rebounded to 0.9 per cent in September. The rise was attributed to the increase in the average cost of overseas hotel accommodations (+5.5 per cent), airfares (+3.2 per cent) and new motorcycles (+2.0 per cent).
• The Rent sector was up 0.3 per cent for the month. The average cost of properties not subject to rent control increased 0.4 per cent.  No price movement was reported in the average cost of home contents insurance.”