The inflation rate dropped to 9.6% in May against 10.1% in April, the National Institute of Statistics (French: INS) said on Monday. This drop, despite the monthly rise, is due to the deceleration in the rate of price increases between May and April this year compared with the same period last year, the INS explained. The rate of increase for 'housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels' slowed from 2.5% to 0.4%, for 'transport services' from 1% to 0.3% and for 'furniture, household equipment and routine household maintenance' from 1.2% to 0.5%. Consumer prices increased by 0.5% in May, after a rise of 1.2% in the previous month. This increase was mainly due to a 0.8% rise in clothing prices, a 0.4% rise in food prices and a 1% rise in restaurant and hotel services prices. Over one month, food prices went up 0.4%. This was due to increases in fruit prices (+3%), sheep meat (+1.8%) and mineral water, soft drinks and fruit juices (+1.6%), the INS said. On the other hand, prices of fresh vegetables fell by 4%, eggs by 2.3% and fresh fish by 0.5%. Prices for restaurant and hotel services rose by 1% in May, following increases for restaurant and café services (+1%) and hotel services (+1.2%). Clothing prices went up 0.8%. Clothing rose by 1%, footwear by 0.3% and accessories by 0.2%. Rises in food, manufactured goods and services In May 2023, food prices rose by 15.9% yoy. This increase was mainly due to a 31.2% rise in the price of sheep meat, a 28.2% rise in the price of poultry meat, a 25.6% rise in the price of eggs, a 23.4% rise in the price of edible oils and a 21.1% rise in the price of beef. The price of manufactured goods also increased by 8.2% year on year, due to a 7.4% rise in the price of building materials, a 9.7% rise in the price of clothing and a 9.7% rise in the price of household goods. In services, prices rose by 6.4% year-on-year, mainly due to a 10.1% increase in the price of restaurants, cafés and hotels, a 17.5% increase in the price of public and private transport services and a 20.7% increase in the price of financial services. Decline in core inflation Core inflation (excluding food and energy) fell to 7.5% from 7.7% in the previous month. Prices for unregulated products rose by 11.1% year-on-year. Prices of regulated products increased by 5%. Unregulated food rose by 18.6%, compared to 0.8% for regulated food.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse