Annual Inflation Rate Reached 7.0 % in 2019

In December 2019, the Consumer Price Index increased by 0.4% compared to the previous month, while the annual inflation rate amounted to 7.0%, the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) reports.

In the same period, the inflation rate without tobacco amounted to 0.4% over the previous month, while the prices increased by 6.3% compared to the same month of the previous year. With regard to the annual core inflation, prices increased by 5.2%, while the annual core inflation without tobacco amounted to 3.7%.

The monthly inflation rate was mainly influenced by price changes for the following groups:

Food and non-alcoholic beverages: the prices in the group increased by 1.4%, contributing 0.44 percentage points to the overall monthly inflation rate. Within the group, the prices were higher for the following subgroups: vegetables (3.7%), fruit and grapes (2.9%), meat (2.3%), fish (2.1%), milk, cheese and eggs (1.1%). Prices decreased for the group of sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (-1.0%);

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels: prices increased by 1.0%, contributing 0.09 percentage points to the overall monthly inflation rate. The prices rose for maintenance and repair of the dwelling (2.0%) and electricity, gas and other fuels (0.9%);

Transport: prices in the group decreased by 0.7 %, with a relevant contribution of -0.09 percentage points to the overall monthly inflation rate. Prices within the group decreased for purchase of vehicles (-2.4%) and transport services (-2.1 %).

The 7.0% inflation rate is the highest since 2017 (7.1% in June 2017).

By Ana Dumbadze