The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) 2022 released by National Statistic Bureau (NSB) on Thursday, shows that CPI in July increased to 6.61 percent from a year ago in July 2021, with 0.08 percentage point increase in the rate compared to previous month.
According to the report, food prices went up by 5.82 percent and non-food rose 7.29 percent over the past one year.
Non-food continues to have higher contribution to the overall increase with 58 percent of the increase while remaining 42 percent is contributed by food group.
Transport continues to have the biggest rise among the 12 divisions, with 12.79 percent, even though the rate has decreased over the last three months. It is still the second-largest contributor, accounting for 29 percent of the entire rise.
Food and alcoholic drinks contribute the most, with a 6.24 percent increase and a 42 percent contribution to the total. Except for communication, which fell 0.04 percent, all other categories increased.
Month-on-month CPI grew by 1.16 percent in July after falling in June, with food and non-food increasing by 1.12 percent and 1.20 percent, respectively. Besides Food and alcoholic beverages, it is the apparel and footwear that contributed to the whole rise, with up 2.98 percent and accounting for 23 percent of the overall increase. Due to increases in tertiary college prices, education saw the greatest monthly increase of the divisions, with 3.15 percent.
From 2020 to 2021, the price of household goods and services grew by 7.35 percent. This represents a 1.72 percentage point increase above the 5.63 percent increase in 2020. The higher rate in 2021 was attributable to a 5.62 percent increase in non-food, compared to a 1.24 percent increase in 2020. Food costs accounted for over 60 percent of all inflation in 2021, with non-food prices accounting for 40 percent of the total rise.
Food prices were the primary driver of inflation in 2020, accounting for about 90 percent of the entire rise. Food and alcoholic drinks provided more than half of the overall rise in 2021, followed by transportation, which contributed about 15 percent, and clothes and footwear, which contributed approximately 11 percent. In 2021, the largest rise was 16.66 percent for alcoholic drinks and betel nuts, while the lowest increase was 0.66 percent for school expenses. Except for communication, which fell by 9.90 percent, all other divisions increased.
