Air Transport Costs Drove Up Inflation in August for Antigua and Barbuda

• An increase in the cost of transport services, particularly air transport, has accounted for more than 26% of the overall August inflation rate, according to the Statistics Division in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for Antigua and Barbuda.
• Overall, inflation rose by 6.6% in the last year ending August 2023, a larger increase than the 5% for July annual statistics.
• According to the CPI, transport services rose 34.2% with air transportation rising by 39.5%. Consumers also saw a rise in food prices, with a 3.6% surge in the last 12 months. Bread and cereals alone rose by 9.1%, accounting for almost 40% of this increase.
• Milk, cheese, and eggs accounted for the second largest contribution to food increases, with 22.8% of the overall food inflation rate. Those items grew 10.4% over the 12-month period.
• Meanwhile, vegetables saw a slight decrease in inflation with prices dipping by 1.3% in August after increasing 9.5% in July. The Statistics Division attributed the decline to an 11.7% decline in the cost of potatoes, while another notable decrease was in meats and meat products, which also slightly declined by 1.3%.
• Other indices with notable increases over the last year include restaurants and hotels, which saw an increase in their prices by 30.8%, communication services increased by 13%, and clothing and footwear saw an uptick of 8%.
• For the monthly report (July to August), inflation rose by only 1.4% after increasing less than 1% for the previous month.

(Source: Antigua Observer)