Rising education and transport costs drove the average price of consumer goods in the capital up 2.54 per cent in the first seven months of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to data released by the Statistical Centre of Abu Dhabi. The inflation rate was much lower than the double-digit growth in Gulf countries during 2007 and 2008, but was still high compared with Europe and the US, said Fabio Scacciavillani, the director of macroeconomics at the Dubai International Financial Centre.
"It's definitely not a low number, considering that the global trend is toward very moderate price increases," he said. Education costs rose by 20.1 per cent for the period, while transport costs grew by 7.9 per cent and food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 6.8 per cent. The main declines in consumer goods were in clothing, down 5.6 per cent, and footwear, down 21.6 per cent. The price increases appeared to hit the upper income brackets more severely than the lower ones. Inflation for the top 20 per cent wealth bracket was 2.42 per cent, and for the second 20 per cent was 2.78 per cent. The bottom 20 per cent saw an increase of 1.78 per cent.
Non-nationals were more severely affected than nationals, with a 3.64 per cent rise in prices compared with 1.93 per cent for Emiratis. bhope@thenational.ae
