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Food prices pull Abu Dhabi inflation up

Consumer prices, or inflation, in Abu Dhabi recorded an average increase of 1.2 per cent year-on-year in the first five months of 2012 compared to same period last year on rising food prices, according to data released on Saturday.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages group accounted for the largest share of the rise in the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, with 67.2 per cent, due to increases in the prices of most of the subgroups falling under this group, according to Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi, or Scad.

Within the food group, the largest increase was witnessed in the meat category, which advanced by 11.2 per cent, followed by fish and seafood that increased by 13.5 per cent. Coffee, tea and cocoa (9.6 per cent), oils and fats (6.7 per cent) and milk, cheese and eggs (three per cent) followed.

The next largest contributor to the overall CPI increase was the restaurants and hotels group, which accounted for 38.9 per cent of the increase in the index as the prices of the group climbed 13.6 per cent.

One of the main groups that slowed down the rise in consumer prices was the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group, which contributed a negative 30.4 per cent of the overall change in the index, with the average prices of the group falling by one per cent.

Consumer prices in the month of May advanced by 1.7 per cent compared to same month last year, the Scad report said. The largest individual increase was recorded in the restaurants and hotels group that rose by 19.1 per cent, followed by alcoholic beverages and tobacco (10.7 per cent) and food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.9 per cent).

On the other hand, May prices for the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group retreated 1.3 per cent year-on-year.

The Scad report further detailed CPI data by welfare levels, revealing an increase of 1.4 per cent in consumer price for households of the bottom and middle welfare quintiles during the first five months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011. The corresponding rise for the top quintile was 1.1 per cent.

abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com