The cost of living in Qatar based on the consumer price index (CPI) in April, 2022, edged up from the previous month.
According to the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), Qatar’s CPI — a key inflation indicator — for April rose 0.29 percent to 101.77 points from that in March.
Compared with the CPI from a year ago, the latest figure shows an increase of 4.66 percent, the PSA report said.
The report reflected month-on-month changes in several groups. Five groups showed increases — miscellaneous goods and services by 1.66 percent, restaurants and hotels by 1.57 percent, clothing and footwear by 1.28 percent, furniture and household equipment by 1.21 percent and housing, water, electricity and other fuel by 0.94 percent. Four groups declined — communication by 1.04 percent, food and beverages by 0.83 percent, transport by 0.45 percent, recreation and culture by 0.19 percent and health by 0.05 percent. Tobacco and education groups remained flat at the last month’s price level.
On an year-on-year analysis, the CPI increase was mostly driven by price rises in eight groups — recreation and culture by 35.25 percent, miscellaneous goods and services by 5.49 percent, housing, water, electricity and other fuel by 3.75 percent, food and beverages by 3.59 percent, clothing and footwear by 2.44 percent, furniture and household equipment by 1.40 percent, education by 0.42 percent and transport by 0.15 percent.
At the same time, the comparison also reveals price declines in three other groups — health by 3.14 percent, restaurants and hotels by 0.98 percent, and communication by 0.64 percent. No change was recorded on group tobacco.
The CPI of April 2022, excluding housing, water, electricity and other fuel group stood at 104.51 points, showing an increase of 0.14 percent as against that in March, 2022, and an increase of 4.88 percent against that in April, 2021.