The Bhutanese Leading the way.
According to the National Statistical Bureau (NSB) report on Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Purchasing Power of Ngultrum (PPN), when compared between December 2023 and December 2012, the PPN, as measured by CPI, stands at Nu 56.4.
This indicates that Nu 100 in December 2023 is equivalent to only Nu 56.4 at December 2012 prices.
Over the last year, from December 2022 to December 2023, PPN, as gauged by CPI, has decreased by 4.75 percent due to price hikes in the economy.
In December 2023, the year-on-year CPI rose by 4.99 percent compared to the previous year, driven by a 6.21 percent increase in the food index and a 3.96 percent rise in the non-food index.
With the exception of the transport and communication sectors, all major divisions experienced index increases. Transport saw a decrease of 1.34 percent, while communication dropped by 2.86 percent.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 6.22 percent, and alcoholic beverages and betel nuts by 5.99 percent.
On a month-on-month basis, the December 2023 CPI increased by 0.41 percent from November 2023, led by a 1.5 percent increase in food and a 0.5 percent decrease in non-food.
Transport decreased by 1.69 percent over the month, while food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.54 percent and alcoholic beverages and betel nuts increased by 0.94 percent.
From 2022 to 2023, the prices of household goods and services increased by 4.23 percent, a drop of 1.41 percentage points from the 5.64 percent increase in 2022.
Except for communication, which decreased by 1.06 percent, all other divisions saw annual CPI increases.
There were notable increases in indices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, health, recreation and culture, education, and restaurants and hotels. Alcoholic beverages and betel nuts increased by 3.46 percentage points, and housing and utilities by 3.11 percentage points.
