Business | Economy
Housing, utilities fuel Abu Dhabi inflation
Report shows consumer prices rise by 2.75% for national households compared to 3.52% for expatriates
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 00:00 January 12, 2011
- Image Credit: Megan Hirons Mahon/Gulf News
- Abu Dhabi’s consumer price index (CPI) rose to 119.33 points last year, up from 115.79 points in 2009.
Dubai: Abu Dhabi's annual inflation stood at 3.06 per cent last year, according to Statistics Centre-Abu Dhabi (SCAD).
Abu Dhabi's consumer price index (CPI) rose to 119.33 points last year, up from 115.79 points in 2009.
The 3.06 per cent rise in CPI has led to an increase of 2.96 per cent in consumer prices for households of the bottom welfare quintile during this period, compared with 2009.
The corresponding rise for other welfare levels was 2.75 per cent for households of the top quintile and 3.27 per cent for the upper middle welfare quintile.
"The level of annual inflation proves that Abu Dhabi's economy is strong, stable and enjoys a significant competitive advantage vis-à-vis regional and global economies," said a SCAD spokesperson.
"This would enhance the appeal of the emirate's economy to both domestic and foreign investment, since the inflation rate and levels of prices represent some of the important economic criteria invoked to assess the investment climate and risks in any country."
The report which sets out the major 12 expenditure groups, shows that the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group remained the largest contributor to the overall year-on-year increase in prices last year, having accounted for 55.4 per cent of that increase.
This contribution resulted from a surge of 4.4 per cent in the prices of this group and due the group's sizable weight, which constitutes 37.9 per cent of the total weight of all expenditure groups.
The next highest contributor to the overall year-over-year increase in the CPI last year compared to 2009 was the "Food and non-alcoholic beverages group", which accounted for 36.8 per cent of the rise in the index during the period due to increases in the prices of most of the component subgroups of this main group.
The report reveals that the CPI edged down 0.79 per cent from 121.88 points in November 2010 to 120.91 points in December 2010.
The SCAD report shows that consumer prices have risen by 2.75 per cent for national households, compared to 3.52 per cent for expatriate households and 2.66 per cent for collective households.
"Rises in the CPI do not necessarily correspond to higher prices for all the goods and services that make up the consumer basket, nor do they mean that all goods and services have increased by the same percentage [3.06 per cent in this case]; for there are goods and services whose prices have risen at rates above the overall rate [3.06 per cent] and others whose rate of increase was below this general average," the spokesperson said.
More from Economy
More from Business
Business Editor's choice
-
China breaks West's solar monopoly
Some countries in the world, especially Germany and the United States, have made considerable efforts to invest in developing solar energy cells
-
Burberry store spree will cut profit
Trenchcoat maker forges ahead with investment strategy targeting emerging markets
-
Laws needed to spur region bond markets
UAE Central Bank calls for creation of a centralised Sharia board to facilitate the sale of sukuk
