May inflation in Georgia up by 0.5%

National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) reports that in May 2019 the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month, while the annual inflation rate amounted to 4.7%.

The agency says that the prices in the group of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.2%, contributing 0.37 percentage points to the overall monthly inflation rate.

In particular, the prices increased for the following sub-groups:

• Vegetables - 8.1% increase
• Fruit and grapes - 7.1 % increase
• Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery – 2%
• Meat -1.8 %
• Fish – 1.2% increase

However, the prices decreased for milk, cheese and eggs by 5.7 %.

As for transport, the prices went up by 1.9 percent, contributing 0.22 % to the overall monthly inflation rate. The prices in the group increased for operation of personal transport equipment - 2.1% and transport services -2.0 percent.

The prices in restaurants and hotels increased by 1.1% with a relevant contribution of 0.06 percentage points to the overall monthly CPI growth. Within the group the prices were higher for accommodation services 4.6 %.

As for the annual inflation rate was mainly influenced by price changes for the following groups:

• Food and non-alcoholic beverages – 7.5% increase
• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco- 21.1 % increase
• Transport - 3.2 % increase
• Recreation and culture – prices went up by 4.6%
• Health – 3% increase in prices

If we compare May’s inflation rate to that of April’s, the inflation rate was increased by 0.2% in April and the annual inflation rate stood at 4.1%.

April monthly inflation rate was primarily influenced by prices changes in the following commodities: food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; and restaurants and hotels.

The highest annual inflation rate over the past two years was measured at 7.1%, in June 2017, according to the GeoStat data.

The target inflation rate set by the National Bank of Georgia is 3% for 2019-2021.