Today, Minister for the Cabinet Office the Hon. Wayne L. Furbert, JP, MP, released the September 2019 Consumer Price Index publication from the Department of Statistics.

The Minister said, “In September 2019 consumers paid 0.8 per cent more for the CPI basket of goods and services than they did in September 2018. Between August 2019 and September 2019 the average cost of all goods and services declined by 0.4 per cent."

The Health & Personal Care sector was the largest contributor to the year-over-year change, increasing 3.8 per cent. The average cost of health insurance premiums was the main contributor to the annual increase.  In addition, the Food and Rent sectors contributed to the rise in the annual rate of inflation as price shifts in these sectors were 2.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.

Between August and September the Education, Recreation, Entertainment & Reading sector posted a 0.4 per cent increase in September. The average cost of tuition fees for local private schools rose 2.5 per cent.  The Tobacco & Liquor sector increased 1.1 per cent for the month. The average cost of wines and beer increased 3.0 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively. The Food sector advanced 0.2 per cent in September. The main contributors behind the rise were the average cost of sugar and sugar confectionary (+1.0 per cent), drink mix (+4.5 per cent) and pork loins (+6.8 per cent). The Transport & Foreign Travel sector dipped 3.0 per cent. Lower prices were reported in the average cost of overseas airfares (-10.4 per cent) and overseas car rentals (-16.4 per cent) while the Rent sector dropped 0.2 per cent for the month. The average cost of rental properties not subject to rent control decreased 0.5 per cent.

The September 2019 Consumer Price Index is available online at www.gov.bm/bermuda-business-statistics.