Abu Dhabi: Average consumer prices in the emirate of Abu Dhabi increased 0.8 per cent in November compared with the same month a year earlier, Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD) said on Saturday.
The consumer price index (CPI) in November stood at 123.6 points, up from 122.6 points in November 2011.
The groups which experienced a significant price increase during November 2012 compared with the same period last year were restaurants and hotels with a 14.5 per cent rise, followed by clothing and footwear with a 4 per cent increase. Prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco went up 11.7 per cent.
Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance rose 1.7 per cent in November from the same month a year ago. However, over the same period, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group decreased 1.3 per cent, SCAD figures showed.
During the first 11 months of 2012, the average consumer prices rose by 1.2 per cent compared with the same period in 2011, the SCAD said.
“Restaurants and hotels group accounted for 50.4 per cent of the increase. The second highest contributor to the overall increase in the CPI over the first 11 months of 2012 was the food and non-alcoholic beverages group,” the SCAD said.
“The prices of coffee, tea and cocoa subgroups rose by 7.9 per cent, meat by 6 per cent, oil and fats by 6.1 per cent, vegetables by 5.5 per cent and fish and seafood by 5.3 per cent,” it added.
In 2011, the emirate’s inflation stood at a low 1.9 per cent. Inflation in the UAE in 2012 is not expected to exceed 2 per cent, according to the Ministry of Economy estimates.
