Brunei Darussalam’s consumer price index (CPI) in July 2020 increased by two per cent year-on-year compared to July 2019.
Prices of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 2.2 per cent. Meanwhile, Non-Food prices increased by 1.9 per cent.
The CPI increase was largely attributed to increases in the prices and costs of Miscellaneous Goods and Services (10.6 per cent); Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (2.2 per cent); and Transport (2.2 per cent). However, this was moderated by the decrease in prices of Restaurants and Hotels (1.1 per cent) and Recreation and Culture (0.2 per cent).
The rise in prices of Miscellaneous Goods and Services was mainly due to an increase in the price of jewellery, insurance and other services.
Meanwhile, limited supply of goods due to reduced imports following the COVID-19 situation in the country and neighbouring countries led to a hike in the prices of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, mainly imported soft drinks, vegetables and meat.
The increase in the prices of Transport was due to the increase in the prices of passenger transport by land and also passenger transport by air of a few limited flights scheduled.
On a month-on-month basis, the CPI in July 2020 decreased by 0.1 per cent compared to June 2020. The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index decreased by 0.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Non-Food Index decreased by 0.02 per cent.
The CPI is a measure of price changes of goods and services paid by the consumer in a specified period and compiled on a monthly basis.
The list of goods and services in the CPI is based on the average expenditure per household from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES). The CPI full report for July 2020 is available from www.deps.gov.bn.