DOHA: Save as PDF Add to Reading List Higher education expenses and rents combined with increasing transportation costs led Qatar’s cost of living based on consumer price index (CPI) to rise 0.87% year-on-year (y-o-y) in May this year, according to official figures. The CPI inflation rose 0.56% against the previous month’s levels mainly on costlier higher costs for recreation and culture, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) said in the CPI inflation report for May. Expecting consumer price levels to be “muted”, MDPS in it Qatar Economic Outlook for 2015-17 had said the country’s CPI inflation is likely to come down to 2% this year from 3.3% in 2014 but will see a modest pick up in the next two years.
The education group, which carries 5.75% weight in the CPI basket, saw the maximum rise of 11.14% y-o-y in May 2015 and the index was unchanged from April’s level. The tobacco group, which has 0.27% weight in the CPI basket, increased 8.59% y-o-y in May this year but month-on-month, it was unchanged. The transport sector, which has 14.59% weightage in the CPI basket, saw its group index expand 2.85% y-o-y in May 2015 and it was unchanged against the previous month’s level. The housing, water, electricity and gas group – with a weight of 21.89% in the CPI basket – saw its index rise 2.27% y-o-y in may this year, but it was unchanged from the previous month’s level.
The CPI of January 2015, excluding “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” group showed an increase of 0.46% y-o-y in May 2015 but it soared 0.71% compared with April this year. The restaurants and hotels segment, which has 6.08% weight in the CPI basket, saw its group index rise 0.74% y-o-y in May this year, but it was down 0.16% month-on-month. The food and beverage sector, which has a weight of 12.58% in the CPI basket, saw its group index expand 0.6% y-o-y in May 2015 and it notched up 0.04% against the April levels. The furnishings and household equipment group, which carries 7.7% weightage in the CPI basket, witnessed a 0.6% y-o-y rise in its index in May this year, whereas it was down 0.08% compared April levels.
The communication segment, which carries 5.87% weight in the CPI basket, saw its group index increase 0.28% y-o-y in May 2015, while it was unchanged from the previous month’s levels. The health sector, which carries 1.79% weightage in the CPI basket, witnessed 0.13% rise y-o-y in May this year. But the index was unchanged month-on-month. However, the recreation and culture group, which has 12.68% weightage in the CPI basket, saw its index plunge 6.51% y-o-y in May 2015, while it surged 5.09% compared to April this year. The miscellaneous goods and services unit, which has 5.69% weightage in the CPI basket, witnessed a 0.41% fall y-o-y in May this year.
