The inflation rate picked up for the first time in a year in April to 5% against 4.8% in March, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) announced Wednesday, May 5.
This increase was mainly due to the acceleration in the pace of price increases for food products (4.9% compared to 4.1%), as well as health and services products (8.8% compared to 8.1%) and transport (2.1% compared to 1.3%).
Food products
Food prices went up 4.9% year-on-year in April 2021. This rate is explained by the increase in prices of edible oils by 12.5%, vegetables by 10%, the group “milk, cheese and & eggs” by 8.0%.
In addition, fruit prices were down 3.9% from their levels in April 2020.
Manufactured goods and services
Over a year, prices for manufactured goods rose 5.1% due to price increases for pharmaceuticals of 11.5%, building materials by 8.4%, and routine household products by 6.2%.
For services, prices rose 5% year-over-year due to price increases for restaurant and cafe services by 9.8%, health services by 8.2%, and rents by 4.6%.
Core inflation
The core inflation rate (excluding food and energy) eased to 5.5% from 5.6% last month. Prices for free products rose 4.9% versus 5.3% for administered prices. The core inflation rate (excluding food and energy) fell to 5.5% from 5.6% last month.
As for free food products, they increased by 4.6% compared to 6.4% for administered food products.
