Saudi inflation edges up to 3.3 per cent in December

• Financial

On Sunday, Government data had unveiled that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s inflation rose moderately in December, as rental costs continued to soar. According to data from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics, the Kingdom’s inflation rose by 3.3 per cent over past twelve months through December compared to a reading of 2.9 per cent logged on November.

However, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, Saudi Arabia’s inflation surged by 0.3 per cent in December compared to an increase of 0.1 per cent in November.

Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation rose by 3.3 per cent in December

On top of that, data from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics had unveiled that the expenses on housing, electricity, gas, oil products alongside water rose by 5.9 per cent in December on an annualized basis, up about 0.9 percentage point in comparison to November.

Apart from that, the growth in spending of rents, electricity, gas, oil products and water had accounted for nearly a 25.5 percentage points increase in overall consumers’ spending. Nonetheless, adding that the rise in Saudi Arabia’s inflation in December was mostly stemming from an increase in housing costs, the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) Kingpin’s Genera Authority for Statistics said in a separate report, “The annual consumer price index for 2022 increased by 2.5% compared to 2021, mainly influenced by the rise in food and beverages prices by 3.7% and transport prices by 4.1%, due to their weight in the index”.

On the brighter side, prices of foods and beverages, which had been leading the charges in inflation in the resource-rich nation, dropped 0.1 per cent in December on a MoM basis.