Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.7 percent in July, from 2.3 percent in June, according to the recent data released by the General Authority for Statistics, also known as GASTAT.

The uptick in the Consumer Price Index, as it is called in technical terms, is driven by a rise in food and beverage prices, GASTAT added. 

According to the report, food and beverage prices showed an annual increase of 3.9 percent, while meat prices surged by 5.1 percent. 

“Food and beverages prices were the main drivers of the inflation rate in July 2022 due to their high relative importance in the Saudi consumer basket with a weight of 18.8 percent,” said GASTAT. 

Transport prices increased by 3.6 percent, mainly due to the increase in the purchase of motor cars prices which went up by 4.2 percent. 

The GASTAT report further revealed that personal goods and services prices in the Kingdom also increased by 2.1 percent. 

Restaurants and hotels prices increased by 6.3 percent, due to the increase in catering services prices, which went up by 6.5 percent, the report added.