According to the May issue of the Monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report issued by Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi (SCAD), the year-over-year inflation rate for May 2010 was 3.02%, as the index accelerated from 114.75 points in May 2009 to 118.22 points in April 2010.
The report also revealed that the average inflation rate in consumer prices for the period January-May 2010 compared to the same period of 2009 was 2.33%, as evident from the advance in the CPI for the period January-May 2010 to 117.81 points, up from 115.12 points over the same period of 2009.
The percentage month-to-month rise in the CPI for May 2010 compared to April 2010 was 0.28%, from 117.89 points in April 2010 to 118.22 points in May 2010.
SCAD’s Statistics Division elaborates further, explaining that the 2.33% rise in consumer prices over the first 5 months of 2010 compared to the same period of 2009, reflected the net change in the consumer basket prices (upward and downward movement) during the two periods compared.
According to the report, the “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” group was the top contributor to the overall increase in prices during the first 5 months of 2010, having accounted for 84.6% of that increase. This contribution resulted from a surge of 5.2% in the prices of this group and due the group’s sizable weight, which constitutes 37.9% of the total weight of all expenditure groups. The main factor underlying the increase in the average prices of this group was the rise by 5.8% in house rents, which make up 87.7% of the total weight of this group.
