KINGSTON, Jamaica – The rate of inflation for December 2022 decreased by 0.9 percentage points to 9.4 per cent, compared to November, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) has reported.

The reference week for the December 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) was the first full week of the month.

Director General Carol Coy said the negligible decline in the index was mainly influenced by a one per cent fall in the out-turn for the heaviest weighted division – ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’.

Speaking during STATIN’s digital quarterly media briefing on Tuesday, Coy said the decline in the division mainly resulted from a 1.1 per cent drop in the index for the ‘Food’ group, despite the ‘Non-Alcoholic’ category rising by one percentage point.

She told journalists that the inflation rate was also impacted by the ‘Transport’ division, which fell by 0.9 percentage points, due mainly to a 3.7 per cent decline in the index for the group ‘Operation of Personal Transport Equipment’, as the costs for petrol continued to decrease over the period under review.

“The inflation rate was, however, tempered by increases in the index for the divisions ‘Restaurants and Accommodation Services’, up 3.4 per cent, mainly impacted by increased prices for meals consumed away from home, and ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’, up 0.7 per cent, due mainly to increases in the rates for electricity, water and sewage,” the director general pointed out.

Coy advised, however, that the December 2022 inflation rate represented an increase on the out-turn recorded 12 months earlier.

“This [December 2022] inflation rate was mainly attributed to increases in the index for the divisions, ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’, up 13.8 per cent, ‘Restaurants and Accommodations Services’, up 23.9 per cent, and ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Fuels’, up 2.8 per cent,” she indicated.

At the same time, STATIN advised that the 2022/23 fiscal year-to-date inflation rate is 6.2 per cent.

The CPI measures changes in the general level of prices of consumer goods and services purchased by private households.