ISLAMABAD: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) witnessed an increase of 12.3 percent on a year-on-year basis in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 11.5 percent in the previous month and eight percent in December 2020, says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
According to the PBS data, the prices of food and non-food items including fruits, cooking oil/ghee, milk, pulses, electricity charges, cotton cloth, motor vehicle accessories, construction input items, chemicals, cement, and hosiery products increased.
On MoM basis, motor fuel prices decreased; however, it was not totally passed on to the consumers at the ratio it decreased in the international market. As per the monthly review of price indices by the PBS, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the CPI decreased by -0.02 percent in December 2021 as compared to an increase of three percent in the previous month, and a decrease of -0.7 percent in December 2020.
The National Consumer Price Index for December 2021 is decreased by -0.02 percent over November 2021and increased by 12.28 percent over the corresponding month of the last year i.e. December 2020.
December: Inflation reading comes in at 12.3%, highest in 22 months
The CPI inflation Urban, increased by 12.7 percent on a year-on-year basis in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 12 percent in the previous month and seven percent in December 2020.
On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.3 percent in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 2.9 percent in the previous month and a decrease of -0.3 percent in December 2020.
The CPI inflation Rural, increased by 11.6 percent on a year-on-year basis in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 10.9 percent in the previous month and 9.5 percent in December 2020.
On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by -0.5 percent in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 3.1 percent in the previous month and a decrease of -1.2 percent in December 2020.
The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) inflation on YoY increased by 20.9 percent in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 18.1 percent a month earlier and an increase of 9.1 percent in December 2020.
On MoM basis, it decreased by -0.4 percent in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 3.6 percent a month earlier and a decrease of -2.7 percent in December 2020.
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation on YoY basis increased by 26.2 percent in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 27.0 percent a month earlier and an increase of 5.7 percent in December 2020.
The WPI inflation on MoM basis decreased by -0.2 percent in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 3.8 percent a month earlier and an increase of 0.3 percent in corresponding month i.e. December 2020.
Measured by non-food non-energy Urban increased by 8.3 percent on (YoY) basis in December, 2021 as compared to an increase of 7.6 percent in the previous month and 5.6 percent in December 2020.
On (MoM) basis, it increased by 1.1 percent in December, 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.1 percent in previous month, and an increase of 0.4 percent in the corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2020.
Measured by non-food non-energy Rural increased by 8.9 percent on (YoY) basis in December, 2021 as compared to an increase of 8.2 percent in the previous month and 7.7 percent in December, 2020.
On (MoM)basis, it increased by 1.1 percent in December, 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.8 percent in previous month, and an increase of 0.5 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. December, 2020.
Measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean Urban increased by 10.8 percent on (YoY) basis in December 2021 as compared to 9.8 percent in the previous month and 6.2 percent in December, 2020.
On (MoM) basis, it increased by 1.1 percent in December, 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.7 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.4 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2020.
Measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean Rural increased by 10.3 percent on (YoY) basis in December2021 as compared to 9.5 percent in the previous month and by 8.8 percent in December 2020. On (MoM) basis, it increased by 1.0 percent in December, 2021 as compared to an increase of 2.2 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.6 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2020.
Top few commodities which varied from previous month and contributed to Urban CPI among food which registered increase are masoor (8.64 percent), maash (6.58 percent), cooking oil (6.02 percent), pulse gram (5.27 percent), fruits (4.81 percent), gram whole (4.71 percent), besan (3.17 percent), milk (2.83 percent), moong (2.75 percent), mustard oil (2.71 percent), vegetable ghee (1.79 percent), fish (1.54 percent) and rice (0.90 percent), and decreased in tomatoes (49.74 percent), vegetables (25.73 percent), potatoes (19.76 percent), chicken (18.34 percent), onions (17.8 percent), sugar (9.22 percent), eggs (3.03 percent), and gur (1.28 percent).
Among non-food items, which increased are electricity charges (14.21 percent), footwear (9.22 percent), electrical appliances (7.75 percent), woolen readymade garments (4.08 percent), woolen cloth (3.31 percent), washing soap/detergents /match box (2.79 percent), carpets (2.74 percent), cleaning & laundering (2.07 percent), motor vehicle accessories (1.90 percent), furniture and furnishing (1.29 percent), construction input items (1.07 percent) and hosiery (1.01 percent) and decreased in Liquefied Hydrocarbons (4.19 percent) and motor fuel (0.13 percent).
YoY top few commodities which varied from corresponding month of previous year i.e. December 2020 are among food items which registered increase are mustard oil (60.77 percent), cooking oil (59.33 percent), vegetable ghee (56.33 percent), pulse masoor (33.56 percent), fruits (29.93 percent), meat (20.4 percent), gram whole (20.13 percent), wheat flour (19.12 percent), wheat (14.63 percent), milk (14.46 percent), beans (14.28 percent), gur (14.13 percent) and sugar (13.28 percent) and decreased in tomatoes (28.90 percent), onions (27.73 percent), pulse moong (24.59 percent), potatoes (23.96 percent), chicken (14.34 percent), eggs (8.19 percent), and condiments and spices (2.63 percent).
Among non-food items, which increased are liquefied hydrocarbons (72.38 percent), electricity charges (59.38 percent), motor fuel (39.68 percent), footwear (26.87 percent), cleaning and laundering (20.37 percent), washing soap/detergents /match box (16.57 percent), motor vehicle accessories (13.82 percent), and construction input items (11.35 percent).
The top few commodities, which varied from the previous month and contributed to Rural CPI and which increased among food items are fruits (7.27 percent), masoor (7.17 percent), cooking oil (5.13 percent), mustard oil (5.01 percent), vegetable ghee (4.80 percent), gram whole (4.74 percent), pulse mash (4.08 percent), beans (3.72 percent), meat (2.20 percent), moong (1.75 percent), besan (1.31 percent), pulse gram (1.30 percent), wheat (1.10 percent) and milk (1.09 percent) and decreased in tomatoes (46.56 percent), vegetables (28.66 percent), onions (19.01 percent), chicken (18.17 percent), potatoes (15.75 percent), sugar (13.25 percent), gur (3.08 percent) and eggs (0.81 percent).
Among non-food items which increased are electricity charges (14.21 percent), washing soaps, detergents and match box (4.29 percent), textiles(4.00 percent), hosiery (3.44 percent), furniture and furnishing (3.21 percent), woolen readymade garments (2.48 percent), stationery (2.29 percent), cleaning and laundering (1.93 percent), plastic products (1.60 percent) and woolen cloth (1.52 percent) and decreased among liquefied hydrocarbons (4.36 percent) and motor fuels (0.67 percent).
YoY top few commodities which varied from corresponding month of previous year i.e. December 2020 and registered increase among food items are mustard oil (57.78 percent), cooking oil (57 percent), vegetable ghee (55.47 percent), masoor (26.81 percent), gram whole (26.72 percent), fruits (25.83 percent), meat (19.72 percent), wheat flour (19.29 percent), beans (14.44 percent), sugar(13.77 percent), besan (12.49 percent), gur (11.71 percent) and milk (10.07 percent) and decreased among tomatoes (30.59 percent), onions (29.78 percent), moong (24.53 percent), potatoes (22.72 percent), condiments and spices (21.66 percent), chicken (13.43 percent), eggs (8.03 percent), and vegetables (1.15 percent).
Among non-food items which increased are electricity charges (59.38 percent), liquefied hydrocarbons (55.56 percent), motor fuels (38.43 percent), hosiery (16.89 percent), washing soaps, detergents and match box (16.85 percent), woolen readymade garments(14.13 percent), woolen cloth (13.91 percent), furniture and furnishing (12.49 percent), cleaning and laundering (12.19 percent), motor vehicles accessories (12.09 percent) and readymade garments (11.40 percent).
Top few commodities which varied from previous month and contributed to the WPI inflation and increased included concrete mixture (28.57 percent), fruits (14.87 percent), lathe machines (11.25 percent), electrical energy(10.12 percent), engines and motors (9.67 percent), pulses (8.21 percent), cement (6.34 percent), fibre crops (5.93 percent), milk (3.52 percent), cereal flour (3.02 percent), towels (2.31 percent), plastic products (2.27 percent), chemicals (2.16 percent), bricks, blocks and tiles (2.04 percent) and vegetable ghee (1.84 percent), and decreased among vegetables (28.87 percent), potatoes (24.75 percent), poultry (17.2 percent), furnace oil (13.48 percent), sugar (8.51 percent), bajra (5.96 percent), maize (5.29 percent), eggs (4.45 percent), kerosene oil (2.30 percent), diesel oil (2.15 percent), motor spirit (1.87 percent), and fertilisers (1.11 percent).
YoY top few commodities which varied from previous year and registered increase in fibre crops (90.54 percent), furnace oil (76.2 percent), cultivators (68.18 percent), kerosene oil (66.73 percent), steel bar and sheets (60.74 percent), vegetable ghee (55.64 percent), oil seeds (55.17 percent), diesel oil (52.89 percent), vegetable oils (50.92 percent), cotton yarn (45.36 percent), fertilizers (44.38 percent), chemicals (40.65 percent), motor spirit(40.54 percent), electrical energy (34.94 percent), spices (33.37 percent), bajra (33.13 percent), concrete (28.57 percent), motorcycles(25.82 percent), lathe machines (24.04 percent), pulses (23.31 percent), cement (22.82 percent), mobil oil (19.58 percent) and meat(18.53 percent) and decreased in stimulant & spice crops (58.55 percent), potatoes (24.43 percent), poultry (13.25 percent) and eggs (12.27 percent).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022