MUSCAT, 18th May, 2025 (WAM) – The Consumer Price data released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) indicated that the general inflation rate in the GCC countries rose by 1.7% at the end of December 2024 compared to the figures recorded during same month of the previous year.
The increase in the annual general inflation rate in the Gulf is primarily driven by a 5.9% increase in housing prices and a 2.8% rise in the prices of goods and services. The culture and entertainment group recorded a 1.8% increase, while both the food and beverages group and the education group rose by 1.2% each. The restaurants and hotels group saw a 1.1% increase, and the health group edged up by 0.1%.
This was offset by a 2.7% decline in prices in the transportation group, 1.7% in furniture and household equipment, 1.1% in tobacco, 0.9% in communications, and 0.2% in clothing and footwear.
The overall Gulf inflation rate was also lower than the European Union inflation rate of 2.7%, and lower than many of the GCC's major trading partners in total merchandise imports. Brazil recorded the highest inflation rate in December 2024 compared to the figures recorded during the same month of the previous year, at 4.8%. It was followed by Japan at 3.6%, then the Republic of India and the United Kingdom at 3.5%, the United States at 2.9%, Germany at 2.6%, South Korea at 1.9%, France and Italy at 1.3% each, and China at 0.1%.