Muscat: The annual inflation rate in the Sultanate of Oman reached 0.69 percent at the end of June 2023, according to the monthly consumer price survey data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The inflation rate was driven by the increase in most of the main groups that make up the consumer price index. The prices of the food and non-alcoholic beverages group rose by 2.18 percent, due to the increase in the prices of most of the group’s components, led by milk, cheese and eggs by 9.78 percent, fish and seafood by 5.19 percent, oils and fats by 4. 81 percent, fruits by 4.3 percent, other foodstuffs by 3.91 percent, bread and cereals by 2.34 percent, and non-alcoholic beverages by 0.67 percent. Meat prices decreased by 0.12 percent and vegetables by 5.65 percent.

The prices of restaurants and hotels groups increased by 3.68 percent, furniture, fixtures and household equipment, and routine home maintenance work by 2.93 percent, miscellaneous goods and services by 2.33 percent, tobacco by 2.11 percent, culture and entertainment by 1.73 percent, health by 1.28 percent, and clothes and shoes by 0. 56 percent, and education by 0.05 percent, and the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other types of fuel group, which rose by 0.02 percent. The prices of the transportation group decreased by 1.74 percent, and communications by 0.22 percent.

The inflation rate increased by 0.23 percent compared to the previous month as a result of the increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages groups by 0.97 percent, led by tobacco by 0.35 percent, culture and entertainment by 0.28 percent, miscellaneous goods and services by 0.23 percent, and furniture, household equipment and household maintenance by 0.03. percent, compared to a decrease in the prices of transport groups by 0.1 percent, communications by 0.05 percent, restaurants and hotels by 0.04 percent, and the stability of prices for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other types of fuel, clothing, shoes, health, and education.

Al Buraimi Governorate recorded the highest inflation rate among the governorates at 1.3 percent, compared to the lowest inflation rate in the North Al Sharqiyah and South Al Sharqiyah Governorates at 0.2 percent. Muscat Governorate recorded an increase in inflation by 1 percent, while Al Dakhiliyah Governorate recorded 0.7 percent, Dhofar Governorate 0.7 percent, Al Dhahirah Governorate 0.6 percent, and North Governorate. Al Batinah 0.4 percent.

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