Here is a look at some key Saudi price indices.
GCC countries import about 85 percent of their food necessities, including over 90 percent of cereals, 60 percent of meat and 55 percent of vegetables. That makes them vulnerable to global inflation and interest rate hikes.
Yet, Saudi bank Al Rajhi Capital said that Saudi witnessed the lowest inflation rate among G20 countries. The kingdom’s inflation rate decreased to 2.3 percent in July, the lowest in over a year.
A robust Saudi economy and sound economic policies are the main reasons for the decline.
Read: Inflation in Saudi Arabia continues to decline to 2.3 percent in July
The Saudi Wholesale Price Index saw a 0.91 percent drop year on year in July in comparison to a 1.29 percent drop in June, due to a 3.63 percent decline in Agriculture and fishery products,
The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2.3 percent year on year in July primarily resulting from housing, water, electricity, and gas which contributed a +8.6 percent year on year hike. The index registered over 2.7 percent growth year on year in June.
The Saudi industrial production index fell 1.60 percent year on year in June, mainly due to a decline in the Mining and quarrying sector activity by 6.5 percent year on year.
2022 inflation rates
According to Euromonitor International, the inflation rates for the U|AE and Saudi in 2022 were 5% and 2.5%, respectively.
They were considerably lower than the global averages, reflecting the effectiveness of the economic strategies pursued by these markets.
Both the UAE and Saudi achieved great success managing the COVID-19 pandemic, ranking second, and fifth (out of 53 countries) respectively, in 2022 Bloomberg’s “COVID Resilience Ranking”.
This effective management allowed them to quickly resume their economic and social activities, and keep inflation under wraps.
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