April inflation: prices for food, non-alcoholic beverages, transport down in Georgia

Prices of certain food products, non-alcoholic beverages and transport decreased month-on-month in Georgia in April, while prices of clothing, footwear and health-related costs increased, the latest inflation data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia on Wednesday showed.

Prices for food products including oil, vegetables, milk and bread decreased by 2.1 percent, with numbers for the specific products as follows:

• Oil (-7.7%)
• Vegetables (-6.3%)
• Milk, cheese, eggs (-3.4%)
• Bread (-2.1%)
• Tea, coffee, cocoa (-1%)

However, prices increased for fruits and grapes (+1.1 percent) and meat products (+1.1 percent).

Transport-related costs decreased by two percent, with a particular reduction in operation of personal transport equipment (-2.9 percent).

Last month, an increase of 2.1 percent in prices for clothing and footwear was observed. Prices were higher for both footwear (0.4 percent) and clothing (2.7 percent), the Office said.

The figures also increased by 0.9 percent for healthcare.

The annual inflation rate amounted to 2.7 percent in April, with the statistics body saying prices had risen by 4.7 percent with regard to the annual core inflation.

In annual inflation numbers, prices increased for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+5.9 percent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+10.3 percent), and decreased for transport (-12.9 percent) and health (-7.9 percent).

Deputy Economy Minister Vakhtang Tsintsadze said the reduction of inflation was the result of “coordinated work of the Government and the National Bank”.

“The annual inflation level has already fallen below the target determined by the National Bank, and we expect that the inflation will remain close to the target in the coming months", he added.

The Deputy Minister said there were “signs of stabilisation of prices” on international markets but added uncertainty remained with the backdrop of "geopolitical tensions" .

“Inflation remains a challenge globally and across the wider region, including the EU countries, with double-digit inflation in many countries. Georgia has already successfully overcome this challenge, which is the result of the coordinated work of the Government of Georgia and the National Bank”, Tsintsadze said.