January inflation rate up by 1.3% in Georgia
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, February 5
The monthly inflation rate was mainly influenced by price changes for food and non-alcoholic beverages. The prices in the group increased by 3.2 %, contributing 0.98% points to the overall monthly inflation rate.
In addition, alcoholic beverages and tobacco prices increased by 5.8 percent, with a relevant contribution of 0.39 percentage points to the overall monthly CPI growth. The tobacco prices only in January increased by 12.5 %.
As for the annual inflation, mainly it was affected by the price changes in food and non-alcoholic beverages category. The prices within the group increased by 3.2 percent, contributing 1.0 percentage points to the overall annual inflation rate.
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco category prices increased by 10.1 percent, with a relevant contribution of 0.66 percentage points to the overall annual CPI growth. The prices increased for tobacco by 20%.
The annual CPI was also influenced by increased prices in the health category. The prices were higher for the following subgroups: medical products, appliances and equipment (4.5 percent), outpatient services (4.4 percent) and hospital services (1.1 percent).
The prices in the group of transport increased by 1.7 percent, with a relevant contribution of 0.22 percentage points to the overall index growth.
In December 2018 the Consumer Price Index increased by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month, while the annual inflation rate amounted to 1.5 %.