The inflation rate rose sharply to 6.4% in July 2021, from 5.7% last month and 5.0% in the two months before, the National Institute of Statistics said in a note published Thursday.
This significant increase is mainly due to the acceleration of the pace of price increases in food products (8% against 7.2% in June) and those of alcoholic beverages and tobacco (26.1% against 6.1%).
Excluding alcoholic beverages and tobacco, inflation reached 5.8% against 5.7% in June 2021, “said the INS.
It explained the increase in food prices, in particular, by the rise in prices of edible oils by 16.6%, vegetables by 15.5%, the group “milk, cheese and eggs” by 9.2%, fish by 8.4% and meat by 7.3%.
As for manufactured goods, they went up 5.6%, over a year, due to the increase in prices of pharmaceutical products by 9.6%, building materials by 12.3%, clothing products by 7.1% and household cleaning products by 6.4%.
For services, prices rose by 4.3%, due to the increase in prices of health services by 6.7% and rents by 4.5%.
Regarding core inflation rate (excluding food and energy), it increased to 5.8% from 5.4% in June.
Prices of free goods rose by 6.4% (compared to 5.8% in June). Prices of administered products went up 7.7% (compared to 5.2% in June). Free food products grew by 8.2%.
Consumer prices increased by 0.9% in July 2021, from 0.5% last month, due to the rise in tobacco prices by 20.1%, communication products and services by 0.7%, food and beverages by 0.5% and restaurant, cafe and hotel services by 0.4%.
