Today, the Department of Statistics issued the January 2020 Consumer Price Index publication from the Department of Statistics.
In January 2020 consumers paid 1.0 per cent more for the CPI basket of goods and services than they did in January 2019. Between December 2019 and January 2020 the average cost of all goods and services rose 0.9 percentage points.
The Health & Personal Care sector was the largest contributor to the year-over-year change, increasing 4.1 per cent. In addition, the Food sector and the Rent sector contributed to the rise in the annual rate of inflation as price shifts in these sectors were 2.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively.
Between December 2019 and January 2020 the Transport & Foreign Travel sector accelerated 2.2 in response to increases in the cost of overseas travel. The average cost of air fares, overseas hotels and overseas car rentals climbed 6.9 per cent, 6.4 per cent and 5.8 per cent, respectively. On the month, the Fuel & Power sector advanced 6.4 per cent for the month as the fuel adjustment clause increased 21.3 per cent. Food prices increased 0.8 per cent. Among the main items contributing to the rise were mayonnaise (+7.3 per cent), ground beef (+4.5 per cent) and preserved meats (+3.9 per cent).
The January 2020 Consumer Price Index is available online at www.gov.bm/bermuda-business-statistics.