Abu Dhabi: The inflation rate in consumer prices for the first quarter of 2018 stood at 3.9 per cent compared with the same period of 2017, the Statistics Centre of Abu Dhabi (SCAD) reported.
The centre's monthly report on the consumer price index (CPI) and the inflation rate in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi for March 2018 was released on Sunday, with 2014 fixed as the base year.
SCAD has recorded an increase in the CPI to 112.2 per cent during the first quarter of 2018, up from 107.9 per cent during the same period of 2017.
A comparison of monthly price data reveals an increase of 2.7 per cent in consumer prices in March 2018 compared with March 2017.
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However, the CPI dropped one percent in March 2018 compared with the previous month.
Classification
The report also presents the contribution of the main expenditure groups to the overall inflation.
These 12 groups are categorised according to the International Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose.
As the results indicate, consumer inflation during the first quarter of 2018 was driven mainly by the transport group, which increased by 10 per cent, contributing 35.7 per cent of the overall increase in the CPI.
A key contributor to the rise in consumer prices during the period under review was the "food and beverages" group, which accounted for 15.7 per cent of the overall increase in the CPI during the first three months of 2018 compared with the same period of 2017, reflecting a 5.3 per cent surge in the group's prices.
Meanwhile, the 'housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel' group detracted 26.6 percent from the overall increase in the CPI during the first quarter of 2018, reflecting a three percent fall in house rents during the period under review.
The report went on to say that since the impact of inflation varies with the household's welfare level, a breakdown of the rise in consumer prices during first quarter of 2018 compared with same period of 2017 indicates an increase of 3.9 percent for households of the bottom welfare level.
The corresponding rises for households of the middle and the top welfare levels were 3.6 and 4.1 percent, respectively.
Analysing the overall rise in consumer prices during Q1 2017 by household type, SCAD's report shows a 4.2 per cent rise in consumer prices for citizen households during the first quarter of 2018, compared with same period of 2017. The corresponding rise for non-citizen and share household types was 3.6 percent and 4.4 per cent, respectively.
According to SCAD, the CPI is expected to increase by 2.7 per cent for the second quarter of 2018, compared with Q2 2017.
