08 September 2016
The household-group inflation was at 3.8%, up 0.1 point, in August 2016, compared with July, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

During the previous four months, inflation has gone crescendo from 3.3% in March 2016 to 3.7% in July 2016, following the increase in annual shift in the "clothing and footwear" group between July and August, climbing from 2.9% to 5.1% mainly driven by the period of summer sales that was put forward.

Falling prices for meat and milk and derivatives

The rise of inflation in August 2016 is due basically to the increase in prices of fruits and dry fruits by 14.4%, edible oils by 7.1%, fish by 4.2%, while meat, milk and dairy products and eggs went down 4.2% and 0.8%, respectively.

Drinks, meanwhile, increased by 5.1% due to the rise in prices of mineral and aerated waters and juice 7.1%, while the "Alcoholic beverages and tobacco" group fell by 0.6% year-on-year.

The "Clothing and footwear" group recorded a growth of 5.1% compared to last year, while the group "housing and domestic energy" posted an increase of 5.9% over the same period last year, following the price increase of drinking water and sanitation by 15.5%. This is the same for rent, building materials and housing maintenance which grew 7.6% and 1.1%, respectively.

For the "health" group, an increase of 3.1% was recorded in August 2016, following the rise in prices of medical services by 5.2% and pharmaceuticals by 2.1%, parallel to the "transport group "which reached 1.2%, driven mainly by rising prices for the use of cars by 0.5% and those of cars themselves (0.5%) and those of public and private transport services by 2. 3%. The group 'restaurants and hotels' rose 3.5% following the increase in food prices in restaurants and cafes services by 4%.

Decreasing prices for telecom equipment:

However, the 'telecommunications' group decreased by 0.6%, due to falling prices of telecommunication equipment by 4.8% and the stabilisation of those of telecommunications services.

The consumer price index grew 0.2% in August 2016 compared to July 2016, following the increase in "food and beverages" group price by 0.1%, the "housing and domestic energy" group by 1% and the" health "group by 0.7%.

© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2016