Annual inflation is driven by housing prices up 6.4 percent, goods and services 3 percent, hotels 1.7 percent
The Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) revealed that the inflation rate in GCC countries increased by 1.7 percent at the close of October 2024, compared to the rate recorded in the same month of the prior year, as per consumer price data for the GCC nations.
Factors contributing to inflation
The rise in the annual inflation rate in the GCC countries is primarily linked to the increase in housing group prices by 6.4 percent, the goods and services group by 3 percent, the restaurants and hotels group by 1.7 percent, the culture and entertainment group by 1.4 percent, the education group by 1.2 percent, and the food and beverages group by 0.8 percent.
Read more: Saudi Arabia’s GDP up 1.3 percent in 2024, driven by non-oil sector growth
Offsetting trends
This increase was counterbalanced by a decline in prices within the transportation group by 3.6 percent, the furniture and household equipment group by 1.9 percent, tobacco by 1.1 percent, the communications group by 0.9 percent, and the clothing and footwear group by 0.4 percent, while prices in the health group remained stable at their previous levels.
Furthermore, the inflation rate in GCC countries was lower than the European Union’s inflation rate of 2.3 percent and also lower than many of the GCC’s principal trading partners in total merchandise imports.
In October 2024, Brazil exhibited the highest inflation rate compared to the same month of the previous year at 4.8 percent, followed by India at 4.4 percent, the United Kingdom at 3.2 percent, the United States at 2.6 percent, Japan at 2.3 percent, Germany at 2 percent, Republic of Korea at 1.3 percent, France at 1.2 percent, Italy at 0.9 percent, and China at 0.3 percent.
