Inflation fell again to 9% in September 2023, down from 9.3% in August, according to the National Statistics Institute's (INS) report on the consumer price index for September 2023, published on Thursday. After a "temporary spike in August", the fall in inflation, despite the monthly increase, is due to the slowdown in the rate of price increase between September and August this year compared to the same period last year. According to the INS, there was a slowdown in the annual rate of price increases for the 'food' group, which fell from 15.3% to 13.9%, and for the 'restaurants and hotels' group, which dropped from 11.5% to 10.5%. On the other hand, the rate of increase for the "Tobacco" group accelerated in September, rising from 4.4% to 9.2%. Consumer prices rise 0.8% in September 2023 Consumer prices increased by 0.8% in September 2023, after a rise of 0.6% in the previous month. This increase was mainly due to a 4.3% rise in the price of education, a 5.8% growth in the price of tobacco and a 0.9% rise in the price of food and beverages. The 0.9% month-on-month increase in food prices was due to a 5.5% increase in eggs, a 4.4% increase in cooking oil and a 4.1% increase in Poultry. However, vegetable prices fell by 2.7% and fresh fruit prices went down by 0.8%. In addition, the 5.4% monthly increase for alcoholic beverages and tobacco was mainly due to a 5.8% rise in tobacco prices. As for the prices of educational products and services, the 4.3 % increase was mainly due to the observed rise in the prices of textbooks (14.9 %), school supplies (4.5 %), secondary education services (4.3 %), remedial course fees (3.3 %) and pre-primary and primary education services (3.2 %). Food prices rise and industrial goods rise 13.9% and 7.9% year-on-year, respectively Food prices increased by 13.9% in September 2023, compared to the previous year. This increase was mainly due to a 35% rise in the price of powdered coffee, a 33.7% rise in the price of eggs, a 31.7% rise in the price of sheep meat and a 26% growth in the price of edible oil. On an annual basis, the price of industrial goods also increased by 7.9%, driven by a 6.1% rise in the price of construction materials, a 9.4% growth in the price of clothing and an 8.4% rise in the price of household cleaning products. Services rose by 6.3 % over the year, mainly due to a 10.5 % increase in restaurant, café and hotel services, a 13.1 % increase in public and private transport services, a 13.3 % growth in financial services and a 5.1 % increase in insurance services. Core inflation and regulated product inflation The core inflation rate (excluding food and energy) has increased and now stands at 7.4% (compared to 7.2% in August). Prices of free market (unregulated) products have increased by 9.9% over the year, while prices of regulated products have also increased by 5.7%. Free market food products rose by 15.9%, compared with 2.1% for regulated food products. Contributions to inflation by sector and group The main contributors to overall inflation were the 'Industry' and 'Services' groups, with 2.8% and 2.2% respectively, and the 'Energy' group, with 0.3%. Among the groups, 'Non-food free group ' and 'Food free group' made the largest contributions to inflation, with 3.9% and 3.7% respectively. In contrast, the 'regulated food' group made the smallest contribution, at 0.1%.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse