Inflation in Saudi Arabia rises to 5.7% in January 2021
16/02/2021 Argaam Special Share Copy to clipboard
Saudi Arabia’s inflation accelerated to 5.7% in January 2021, according to recent data by the General Authority for Statistics (
GASTAT).
The authority attributed the growth in inflation to an increase in value-added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% from July 1,2020.
The cost-of-living index for January rose to 104 points according to the base year 2018, compared to 98.37 points the year before.
The consumer price index (CPI) rise was mainly driven by a surge of 12.3% year-on-year (YoY) in the average prices of food and beverages, affected by an increase of 12.6% in food prices. It was followed by a 9.6% rise in the transport sector as vehicle prices grew by 11.1%.