The Consumer Price Index of “communications” stood at 186.2 for the month ending Feb. 19, indicating a 0.1% decline compared with the month before, registering the only monthly deflation among 12 groups of goods and services surveyed by the Statistical center of Iran.
The index, with a coefficient of 2.87%, registered a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. The group’s annualized inflation was at 7.6%.
The 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households surveyed by the SCI include "food and beverages" with a coefficient of 26.64%, "tobacco" with 0.59%, "clothing and shoes" with 4.78%, "housing, water, electricity, natural gas and other fuels" with 35.5% (highest), "furniture, home appliances and their maintenance" with 3.93%, "health and treatment" with 7.14%, "transportation" with 9.41%, "communications" with 2.87%, "leisure and culture" with 1.65%, "education" with 1.86%, "hotels and restaurants" with 1.44% and "miscellaneous items and services" with 4.18%.
New data released by SCI show the general annualized inflation has maintained its monthly downtrend after registering a high of 45.4% in the month to Oct. 22.
The overall goods and services CPI in the 12-month period ending Feb. 19, which marks the end of the 11th month of the current Iranian year, increased by 41.4% year-on-year, marking the fourth consecutive month of decline.
SCI had put the average annual inflation rate for the preceding Iranian month, which ended on Jan. 20, at 42.4%.
The consumer inflation for the month under review (Jan. 21-Feb. 19) registered an increase of 35.4% compared with the similar month of the previous Iranian year. The year-on-year inflation of the month ending Jan. 20 was 35.9%.
The overall CPI (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 396.4 for the month ending Feb. 19, indicating a 2.1% rise compared with the month before. Month-on-month consumer inflation was 2.4% for the preceding month.
SCI put average inflation for urban and rural areas at 40.8% and 44.2%, respectively.
CPI registered a year-on-year increase of 35.3% for urban areas and 35.8% for rural areas in the month.
The overall CPI reached 384.1 for urban households and 422.7 for rural households, indicating a month-on-month increase of 2% and 2.7%, respectively.
The highest and lowest monthly growth in the index among 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households in the Iranian month ending Feb. 19 was recorded for “food and beverages” with 3.9% and “communications” with -0.1%.
The highest year-on-year inflation in the month under review was posted for “hotels and restaurants” with 59.7% while the lowest YOY inflation was registered for “communications” with 3.8%.
The highest and lowest annualized inflation rates were registered for “hotels and restaurants” with 61.2% and “communications” with 7.6%.
