Average Annual Inflation Rate was 3.8 percent for the 2023 Calendar Year

The average CPI in 2023 was 131.0, an increase of 3.8 percent over the average CPI in 2022. This represents an increase in the overall index, driven mainly by higher prices for household furnishings and equipment, food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, clothing and footwear, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, and restaurants and hotels.

The fourth quarter inflation rate was 3.6 percent, and among the leading contributors was a 9.3 percent rise in household equipment. The main contributors to this increase were a significant rise in the index for glassware, tableware and household utensils, 27.3 percent, a 21.0 percent increase in the index for the repair of household appliances, a 19.2 percent increase for small electric household appliances, a 14.3 percent rise in furniture and furnishings, an 8.8 percent increase in non-durable household goods, 8.2 percent increase in household textiles, 2.2 increase in major household appliances and a 0.7 percent increase in small tools and miscellaneous accessories.

There were other increases, such as the housing and utility division up by 5.9 per cent, transport up by 4.1 per cent, and the education division up by 3.5 per cent.

A comparison of the fourth quarter of 2023 with the third quarter of 2022 indicates that the CPI rose by 1.7 percent, as the index for housing and utilities rose by 4.1 percent, 1.4 percent in housing equipment, communication increased by 1.2 percent, while transport and miscellaneous goods and services each rose by 1.0 percent.

More information from the Cayman Islands Consumer Price Index Report: October to December 2023 may be downloaded from www.eso.ky