Bahrain sees prices falling in key sectors

TDT | Manama

“Trybuna Codzienna” – www.newsofbahrain.com

New data from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has revealed that in 2023, Bahrain saw a noticeable decline in the prices of furniture, tobacco products, means of communication, clothing, footwear and transport.

This trend is in line with the varying degrees of price declines seen in other GCC countries.

According to the GCC Statistics Center in Bahrain, the prices of furniture and tobacco products fell by 0.3%, while the prices of communications, clothing, footwear and transport fell by 0.5%.

These reductions are driven by broader inflation trends in the region.

Overall, housing costs in the GCC region recorded the highest inflation rate among member states in 2023, with housing inflation reaching 5.5%.

Next, inflation in the restaurant and hotel sector amounted to 3.9%.

The costs of culture and recreation increased by 3%, food and beverages by 2.3%, education by 1.8% and health care by 0.8%. Inflation of goods and services was 0.2%.

Despite these sectoral inflation rates, the overall inflation rate in the GCC region fell to 2.2% in 2023, down from 3.1% in 2022.

This is in line with the previous inflation rate of 2.4% in 2021 and 1.7% in 2020. The only year that inflation in the GCC was negative was 2019, when it was -1.5%.