May inflation: prices for food products, non-alcoholic beverages down in Georgia

Prices of certain food products and non-alcoholic beverages decreased month-on-month in Georgia in May, while prices of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, miscellaneous goods and services increased, the latest inflation data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia on Friday shows.

Prices for food products - including oil, vegetables, milk and bread - decreased by 1.7 percent, with numbers for the specific products as follows:

• Milk, cheese and eggs (-5.2 percent)
• Vegetables (-5 percent)
• Bread and cereals (-2.3 percent)
• Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (-1.4 percent)
• Oils and fats (-1 percent)

At the same time, prices increased for: 

• Fruit and grapes (4 percent)
• Coffee, tea and cocoa (1.5 percent)
• Fish (1.1 percent)
• Meat (1 percent)

Last month prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased by 1.6 percent, while for miscellaneous goods and services they went up by 6.2 percent.

Overall, the consumer price index in May decreased by 0.1 percent compared to the previous month, while the annual inflation rate amounted to 1.5 percent.

The annual inflation rate was mainly influenced by price changes for miscellaneous goods and services (+18.4 percent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.3 percent), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+7.1 percent), transport (-12.9 percent) and health (-7.5 percent).

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development named reasons leading to the recent reduction of the inflation rate in Georgia in its latest report published in May, saying “foreign capital inflows covered the trade deficit, while domestic currency appreciation with timely monetary policy tightening from the central bank contributed to a steady reduction of inflation to 5.3 percent in March 2023”.

The National Bank of Georgia last week said even though inflation was still high in the country, the trends were following a “downward trajectory”, with the numbers expected to remain below the target level in the second half of the year.