The Producer Price Index in the four-quarter period ending June 21, 2022, which marks the end of the first quarter of the current Iranian year, grew by 49.7% compared with the corresponding period of last year, data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.
The lowest and highest annualized producer inflation was registered for “production, transmission and distribution of electricity” and “agriculture" with 13.8% and 63.6%, respectively.
PPI (using fiscal 2016-17 as the base year) stood at 626.4 in Q1 (March 21-June 21), indicating a 15.8% increase compared with the previous quarter and a 49.3% growth over the same quarter of last year.
The lowest and highest quarter-on-quarter producer inflation was registered for “mining” with 7.4% and “agriculture” with 38.5%, respectively.
Notably, the electricity sector registered a 0.8% deflation. Compared with the same quarter of the year before, “production, transmission and distribution of electricity” posted the lowest PPI of 13.8% and “agriculture” registered the highest PPI of 63.6% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Services
The overall PPI for the services sector stood at 482 in Q1, indicating a 13.8% increase compared with the preceding quarter. The index indicates a 49.4% increase year-on-year.
The average PPI for the services sector in the four-quarter period ending June 21 increased by 47.3% YOY. This marks the highest annualized producer inflation experienced by the services sector since winter 2013 (the earliest available data on PPI inflation on the database of the Statistical Center of Iran).
The services PPI is calculated based on the indexes of 13 subsectors, namely “water networks, wastewater management and wastewater treatment” with a coefficient of 1.2%, “repairing motor vehicles and motorcycles” with 2.8%, “transportation and warehouse services” with 23.2%, “services related to accommodation and food” with 4.8%, “information and communications” with 8.5%, “insurance services” with 1.7%, “real-estate services” with 26.8%, “professional, scientific and technical activities” with 3%, “administrative and support services” with 1.7%, “education” with 9.3%, “social services” with 14.2%, “art, entertainment and leisure” with 1.1% and “services categorized as others” with 1.8%.
For “water networks, wastewater management and wastewater treatment”, PPI stood at 219.7 in Q1, up 60.4% compared with the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period ending June 21 increased by 24.6%.
PPI for “repairing motor vehicles and motorcycles” stood at 812.6, indicating a 19.2% rise compared with the previous quarter and a 60.2% growth compared with the same quarter of the year before. The average PPI for the subsector in the period surged by 58.3%.
The index for “transportation and warehouse services” stood at 581.8, posting an 18.4% rise quarter-on-quarter and a 52.8% rise year-on-year. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period jumped by 50.6%.
For “services related to accommodation and food”, PPI stood at 1,202, registering a 24.7% increase QOQ and a 93.2% increase YOY. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 87.1%.
For “information and communications”, it stood at 290.5, showing a 5.5% rise compared with the previous quarter and a 25.1% increase compared with the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 25%.
“Insurance services” saw the PPI stand at 286.8, registering a 12.8% rise QOQ and a 36.9% increase YOY. The average annual PPI for the subsector during the period increased by 45.1%.
For “real-estate services”, the index was at 256.6, posting a 5.6% rise compared with the previous quarter and a 27.2% increase compared with the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 25.3%.
“Professional, scientific and technical activities” had a PPI of 364.7, indicating a 13.2% rise over the preceding quarter and a 32.2% increase over the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 31.1%.
PPI measured for the subsector of “administrative and support services” stood at 837.7, showing an 11.6% growth compared with the previous quarter and a 50% increase over the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 58.2%.
“Education” recorded a PPI of 360.9, indicating a 1.9% rise over the preceding quarter and a 36.1% increase over the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 34.2%.
For “social services”, PPI stood at 634.9, indicating a 14.7% rise compared with the previous quarter and a 57.8% increase compared with the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 58.3%.
“Art, entertainment and leisure” had a PPI of 520.1, indicating a 16.2% rise over the preceding quarter and a 56.9% increase over the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 50.7%.
And, “services categorized as others” registered a PPI of 632, indicating a 13.5% rise over the preceding quarter and a 48.7% increase over the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector increased by 50.1%.
Industry
The overall PPI of the industrial sector stood at 768.9 in Q1, indicating a 12.5% increase compared with the previous quarter and a 46.3% growth over the same quarter of the year before.
The industrial PPI in the four-quarter period ending June 21 grew by 48% compared with the corresponding period of the year before.
The lowest quarterly PPI inflation rates in Q1 were recorded for “production of base metals” with 2.5%, “production of computer, electronic and lighting products” with 4.9% and “production of chemicals” with 7.7%.
The highest quarterly PPI inflation rates were posted for “production of food products” with 44.9%, “production of beverages” with 28.7% and “printing and duplication in the recorded media” with 24.4%.
The lowest year-on-year PPI inflation rate was registered for “production of computer, electronic and lighting products” with 17.1%, “production of base metals” with 20.1% and “production of pharmaceuticals, chemicals used in pharmacy and herbal remedies” with 27.7%. The highest year-on-year increase was posted by “production of food products” with 93.3, “other non-metallic minerals” with 65.2% and “production of coke and oil refining products” with 56.8% compared with the same quarter of last year.
The lowest annualized PPI inflation was recorded by “production of computer, electronic and lighting products” with 27.3%, “production of tobacco” with 29.7% and “production of pharmaceuticals, chemicals used in pharmacy and herbal remedies” with 31.3%. The highest annual PPI was recorded by “other non-metallic minerals” with 67%, “production of food products” with 64.9% and “printing and duplicating the recorded media” with 60.4%.
Mining
The average PPI for the mining sector in the four-quarter period ending June 21, increased by 62.1% compared with the same period of the year before.
The average annual producer inflation of the “coal extraction” subsector in Q1 was at 64.2% and those of “extraction of metal ores” and “extraction of other mines” were at 62.4% and 58.3%, respectively.
The overall PPI of the mining sector (using the Iranian year ending March 2017 as the new base year) stood at 1,178 in Q1, indicating a 7.4% increase compared with the previous quarter and a 27.4% growth over the same quarter of last year.
The quarter-on-quarter producer inflation of “coal extraction” was at 11.4% in Q1 and those of “extraction of metal ores” and “extraction of other mines” reached 5.6% and 23.8%, respectively.
The year-on-year producer inflation of “coal extraction” was 43.5% and those of the “extraction of metal ores” and “extraction of other mines” were 24.3% and 53.7%, respectively.
Electricity
The PPI for the electricity sector during the four-quarter period ending June 21 increased by 13.8% compared with the same period of the year before.
The sector’s PPI (using the Iranian year ending March 2017 as the base year) stood at 188.3 in Q1 (March 21-June 21), indicating a decrease of 0.8% compared with the preceding quarter but a rise of 8.4% compared with the same quarter of the year before.
Agriculture
The index for the agriculture sector increased by 63.6% compared with the year before.
The overall PPI of this group (using the year ending March 2017 as the base year) stood at 721.5 in Q1, indicating a 66.2% increase compared with the same quarter of the year before and 38.5% compared with the quarter before.
