Food prices rose 13.3% over a year

If you feel like you’re paying more for food then you guessed right. You are!

Here’s a breakdown from the Statistics Division. According to their latest report all-Items Index increased 7.7% for the twelve months ending October 2022.

The Food Index rose 13.3% over the last twelve months.

The index for Oils and Fats rose 27.7% over the year and the index for Food Products N.E.C increased by 20.7%.

The index for Meat and Meat Products increased by 18.4%. The remaining food groups posted increases ranging from 7.8% (Fruits) to 13.3% (Sugar, Jams Honey Chocolate, and Confectionery).

While the index for Meat and Meat Products recorded the third largest percentage increase among the food groups, it accounted for 24.4% of the change in the food index, the highest contribution. The index for Vegetables rose 12.1% but accounted for 21.0% of the change in the Food Index.

The Index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 6.1% over the last twelve months. The index for Clothing and Footwear rose 13.0% over the last year. Other notable indexes with increases over the last year include Health (+8.8%), Recreation and Culture (+1.4%), and Housing Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (+1.0%)

The Energy Index increased 10.9% over the last twelve months. The Gasoline index increased 24.3% with the price per gallon increasing from $12.50 to $15.54. The diesel price rose 37.6% with the price per gallon increasing from $12.20 to $16.79. Fuel variation remains unchanged at 0.50 cents.

Month-to-Month Price Changes

The Monthly Consumer Price Index rose 0.5% for the month ending October 2022.
The Food Index declined 0.1% in October 2022, its first monthly decline since January 2022 decline (0.1%). The decrease was attributed to declines in four of the nine major supermarket food indexes.

The index for Fruits declined by 2.8% while the index for Fish and Seafood fell by 2.6%. The Indexes for Vegetables and Milk, Cheese, and Eggs fell
by 0.5% and 0.2% respectively

Contrary to the declines the index for Food Products N.E.C rose 4.4% and the index for Oils and Fats increased by 2.4%

The Index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 0.7% following a decline of 0.3 in September 2022. The index for Recreation and Culture increased by 3.9% and the Index for Clothing and Footwear rose by 2.9%. The index for Health increased by 2.7%. Other increases include Transport (+1.0%), Housing Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (+0.6%), and Communication (+0.4%).

Methodology

What is the consumer price index (CPI) measuring and how is it done?

The All Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the main measure of what is commonly called inflation, or headline inflation. It measures the change in prices, on average, from month to month, and from year to year of the goods and services bought by most households.

Prices are collected monthly and quarterly from supermarkets and other suppliers of goods and services. The pattern of household expenditure on these goods and services is derived from a regular household budget (or expenditure) survey (HBS).

The prices and spending patterns (known as weights) are then combined to calculate the price indices for groups of goods and services and for the All Items index. These indices are based on expenditure patterns in 2006.