PRICES remained high in the food and non-alcoholic beverages category of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), pushing inflation numbers up, with the latest data released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBOS) showing both measures of inflation at above 4 percent.
The FBOS uses two measures of inflation: one compares the average CPI of the past 12 months with the average CPI of the previous 12 months (average annual inflation rate) while the other compares the CPI in the current month with the CPI in the comparable month of the previous year (month-on-month inflation rate).
The average annual inflation rate for the 12 months to January 2025 stood at 4.6 percent, showing prices were generally higher between January 2024 to January 2025 than they were between January 2023 to January 2024.
The higher price trend continued into this year, with month-on-month inflation (January 2025 compared with January 2024) at 4 percent, according to FBOS data.
The all-item CPI for January 2025 stood at 127.3, an increase of 2 percent over December 2024, mostly inflated by prices of goods in the food and non-alcoholic goods category, which increased by 5.7 percent.
Higher prices were recorded for goods under that category.
They include: bread and cereals, meat, fish and seafood, milk, cheese and eggs, vegetables, confectionery, food products not elsewhere classified and non-alcoholic beverages such as coffee, tea and cocoa and mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices.
Higher prices were also noted in the recreation and culture category, which increased by 8 percent, reflecting inflation in equipment for the reception, record and reproduction of sound and picture, games, toys and hobbies and newspaper and periodicals.
The general price trend was recorded as well for the health category of the CPI (+0.2 percent), pushed up by high prices of pharmaceutical products; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+0.2 percent), reflecting higher prices of paint, gas and liquid fuels; restaurants and hotels category (+0.2 percent) and the transport category (+0.2 percent) due to higher prices of fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment.
NOTE: This article was first published in the print edition of the Fiji Times dated FEBRUARY 11, 2025.
