August inflation: Cost of food increases in Georgia

Georgia’s monthly inflation rate rose 0.4 percent in August 2016, says the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

The Consumer Price Index change (annual inflation rate) posted a 0.9 percent increase year-on-year (y/y) and the index rose 16.2 percent compared to 2010, said Geostat.

In August 2016 the monthly inflation rate was mainly formed by price increases for food and nonalcoholic beverages, which amounted to 1.4 percent and contributed 0.42 percentage points to the overall CPI change.

Last month prices were substantially higher for:

• Fruit and grapes (13.7 percent)
• Milk, cheese and eggs (3 percent)
• Vegetables (2 percent)

Also last month recreation and culture-related costs rose 0.9 percent, said Geostat. Consequently, this contributed 0.06 percentage points to the overall inflation rate.

Meanwhile prices dropped 0.7 percent for health-related costs, which resulted in a -0.07 percentage point contribution to the monthly inflation rate.

Prices also decreased for medical products, appliances and equipment (-2.6 percent) last month.