Consumer Price Index November 2020 – STATIN

The inflation rate for November 2020 was 0.6 per cent as released Thursday (December 17) by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The increase in the inflation rate was mainly due to an increase of 1.7 per cent in the heavily weighted ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division.

There was a 1.8 per cent upward movement in the index for the ‘Food’ group, which was mainly attributed to an increase of 5.7 per cent in the index for the class ‘Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses’. This was primarily influenced by higher prices for agricultural produce such as carrot, cabbage, tomato and sweet pepper as a result of reduced supplies due to adverse weather conditions.

There was a negligible increase in the index for the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ division. This was due mainly to higher electricity rates, which resulted in the index for the group ‘Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ increasing by 3.8 per cent. However, the division’s movement was tempered by the decline of 2.3 per cent in the index for the group ‘Rentals for Housing’.

For the review period, the calendar year-to-date inflation rate was 5.0 per cent, the point- to-point 4.3 per cent and the fiscal year-to-date was 3.7 per cent as at November 2020.

The inflation rate for the three regions are: Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area (GKMA) 0.2 per cent, Other Urban Centres (OUC) 0.8 per cent and Rural Areas (RA) 0.8 per cent.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures changes in the general level of prices of consumer goods and services purchased by private households. The November 2020 Consumer Price Index Bulletin outlines additional information and may be obtained from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica website at www.statinja.gov.jm or from the Information Section of the Institute, 7 Cecelio Avenue, Kingston.

Visit the Institute’s Facebook page at facebook.com/STATINJA for the November 2020 CPI infographic.

consumer price index Nov 2020