Malta Inflation report August 2015

1Kindly indicate source when quoting from this release.The advance release calendar may be consulted at www.nso.gov.mt

Issued by: External Cooperation and Communication Unit, National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000, Malta.T. +356 2599 7219 F. +356 2599 7205 E. [email protected]

16 September 2015 | 1100 hrs | 169/2015

Compiled by:

Unit A5: Price Statistics

Directorate A: Economic Statistics

Further information on data:

Mr Keith BORGT. +356 2599 7312E. [email protected]

In August, the annual rate of infl ation as measured by the Retail Price Index stood at 1.34 per cent.

Retail Price Index: August 2015

In August, the annual rate stood at 1.34 per cent, as shown in Chart 1. A year earlier the annual rate was -0.03 per cent.

The main upward impacts on annual infl ation were recorded in the Food Index (0.61 percentage points), the Recreation and Culture Index (0.27 percentage points) and the Beverages and Tobacco Index (0.21 percentage points). This was mainly due to higher prices for vegetables, expenses related to education and cigarettes respectively (Table 5).

The largest downward impacts were brought about by the Transport and Communication Index (0.34 percentage points) and the Water, Electricity, Gas and Fuels Index (0.05 percentage points). This was mainly due to a reduction in fuel and gas prices (Table 5).

The twelve-month moving average rate was 0.84 per cent

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

cent

Chart 1. Inflation rates

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Aug

2011

Dec

201

1

Apr 2

012

Aug

2012

Dec

201

2

Apr 2

013

Aug

2013

Dec

201

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Apr 2

014

Aug

2014

Dec

201

4

Apr 2

015

Aug

2015

per

periodAnnual rate 12-month average rate

2Annual rate (%) Monthly rate (%)

Aug 2014 Jul 2015 Aug 2015 Aug 2015 Aug 2015

Food 21.23 117.07 119.19 120.42 2.86 1.03

Beverages and Tobacco 6.09 116.63 120.25 120.60 3.40 0.29

Clothing and Footwear 7.41 79.31 84.98 81.19 2.37 -4.46

Housing 7.61 109.36 110.35 110.38 0.93 0.03

Water, Electricity, Gas and Fuels 3.36 105.00 104.50 103.52 -1.41 -0.94

Household Equipment and House Maintenance Costs 6.59 103.56 104.97 105.25 1.63 0.27

Transport and Communication 22.76 107.11 105.22 105.52 -1.48 0.29

Personal Care and Health 8.57 107.44 108.94 109.05 1.50 0.10

Recreation and Culture 9.28 108.37 111.52 111.49 2.88 -0.03

Other Goods and Services 7.10 111.24 113.54 113.43 1.97 -0.10

All Items 100.00 108.05 109.45 109.50 1.34 0.05

Table 1. RPI group indicesDecember 2009=100

Group WeightIndices

3Aug 2014 Jul 2015 Aug 2015 Aug 2014 Jul 2015 Aug 2015

Food 21.23 0.27 2.35 2.86 0.53 0.47 1.03

Beverages and Tobacco 6.09 3.64 3.13 3.40 0.03 -0.01 0.29

Clothing and Footwear 7.41 1.47 0.38 2.37 -6.32 -9.03 -4.46

Housing 7.61 0.62 0.94 0.93 0.04 -0.04 0.03

Water, Electricity, Gas and Fuels 3.36 -18.66 -0.48 -1.41 0.00 0.00 -0.94

Household Equipment and House Maintenance Costs 6.59 1.85 1.28 1.63 -0.08 0.10 0.27

Transport and Communication 22.76 -1.31 -1.68 -1.48 0.08 0.83 0.29

Personal Care and Health 8.57 1.15 1.55 1.50 0.15 0.14 0.10

Recreation and Culture 9.28 3.46 2.74 2.88 -0.17 0.20 -0.03

Other Goods and Services 7.10 1.06 2.16 1.97 0.09 -0.32 -0.10

All Items 100.00 -0.03 1.07 1.34 -0.22 -0.27 0.05

Group WeightAnnual rate Monthly rate

Table 2. Retail Price Index by period and groupRates of change (%)

4Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2012 104.11 104.74 105.17 106.59 106.61 106.82 106.13 106.49 107.47 108.51 108.34 108.38

2013 106.58 106.67 107.24 108.08 108.61 108.51 108.34 108.08 108.26 108.52 108.56 109.50

2014 107.27 107.83 108.43 108.09 108.19 108.40 108.29 108.05 108.41 108.90 109.47 109.67

2015 108.04 108.59 109.07 109.81 109.58 109.75 109.45 109.50 - - - -

Rates over time Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2012Annual rate 1.87 2.56 1.98 2.60 1.75 2.17 2.11 2.25 2.89 2.98 3.05 2.79

12-month moving average rate 2.65 2.67 2.61 2.63 2.51 2.42 2.36 2.28 2.30 2.30 2.36 2.42

2013Annual rate 2.37 1.84 1.97 1.40 1.88 1.58 2.08 1.50 0.74 0.01 0.20 1.04


2014Annual rate 0.65 1.08 1.11 0.01 -0.39 -0.10 -0.05 -0.03 0.14 0.35 0.84 0.15


2015Annual rate 0.72 0.71 0.59 1.59 1.29 1.24 1.07 1.34 - - - -

12-month moving average rate 0.32 0.29 0.24 0.38 0.52 0.63 0.72 0.84 - - - -

Table 4. Inflation rates by month and year

Table 3. All Items RPI by month and yearDecember 2009=100

(%)

5Food 21.23 2.86 0.61

Beverages and Tobacco 6.09 3.40 0.21

Clothing and Footwear 7.41 2.37 0.18

Housing 7.61 0.93 0.07

Water, Electricity, Gas and Fuels 3.36 -1.41 -0.05

Household Equipment and House Maintenance Costs 6.59 1.63 0.11

Transport and Communication 22.76 -1.48 -0.34

Personal Care and Health 8.57 1.50 0.13

Recreation and Culture 9.28 2.88 0.27

Other Goods and Services 7.10 1.97 0.14

* See methodological note 8

Group Weight Annual rate August 2015

Impact (percentage points)

August 2015

Table 5. Impact on annual inflation by group *

6 Methodological Notes

1.

2.

3.

(a)

(b)

(c)

COICOP Division RPI Group

Food and non-alcoholic beverages Food (including take-away food and food consumed in restaurants)

Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco Beverages and tobacco Clothing and Footwear Clothing and footwear Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Housing

Water, electricity, gas and fuels Furniture, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House

Household equipment and house maintenance costs

Health Personal care and health Transport Transport and communication Communication Recreation and Culture Recreation and culture (including Education education) Restaurants and Hotels Restaurants (included under food) Miscellaneous Goods and Services Other goods and services

4.

5.

(a)

(b)

(c)

The Retail Price Index is the main measure of inflation in Malta. It measures the average change from month tomonth in the prices of goods and services purchased by most households in Malta.

Each monthly News Release on the Retail Price Index shall include three different measures of inflation asfollows:

The monthly inflation compares price levels between the two latest months. Although up to date, this canbe affected by seasonal and other effects.

The annual inflation measures price changes between the reference month and the same month of theprevious year. This measure is responsive to recent changes in price levels but can be influenced by one-off effects in either month.

Price quotations in respect of the goods and services in the latest index series started being collected inDecember 2009. This latest index series may be linked to the previous one by using a linking coefficient of1.1835.

The Index is compiled using a large and representative selection of more than 355 separate goods and servicesfor which price movements are regularly monitored. Over 9,000 separate price quotations are used each monthin compiling the Index.

The 12-month average rate overcomes the volatility of the above two rates by comparing average RetailPrice Indices in the latest 12 months to the average of the previous 12 months. This measure is lesssensitive to transient changes in prices.

The methodology of the Retail Price Index (RPI) and the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is similar,but differs in the following ways:

The population base of each index is different. The RPI is representative of private households only. TheHICP covers private households, institutional households and foreign visitors to Malta;

The RPI is a fixed weight and fixed base index while the HICP is a chain index whose weights are reviewedon an annual basis. Additionally, newly significant goods and services are introduced into the HICP on anannual basis;

The coverage of the HICP is based on an international classifications system, COICOP (Classification ofIndividual Consumption by Purpose). The way in which this broadly maps to the RPI groupings is shown inthe following table:

This comparison is broad and indicative only. Therefore, users are advised to consult the NSO before comparingthe results of these indices at such levels.

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Metadata: http://nso.gov.mt/metadata/reports.aspx?id=10Statistical Database: http://nso.gov.mt/statdb/start

More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:

Statistical Concepts: http://nso.gov.mt/metadata/concepts.aspx

An impact is a measure showing the change in the inflation due to the inclusion of an index. The impact takesaccount of both the weight and the annual rate of inflation by sub-index. Figures may not add up due to rounding.

More information on the Retail Price Index is available from the NSO website at:http://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Selected_Indicators/Retail_Price_Index/Pages/Retail-Price-Index.aspx

The data in this release are not normally subject to revision.

Malta Inflation report August 2015

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